Elia awards HVAC contracts for world’s first energy island

Belgium’s transmission system operator (TSO) Elia has awarded contracts to several companies for high-voltage alternating current (HVAC) components of Princess Elisabeth Island, the world’s first energy island.

The artificial energy island will be built some 45 kilometers off the Belgian coast, within the Princess Elisabeth offshore wind farm zone, and span about five hectares above water. The area that will house the electrical infrastructure will be built across approximately six hectares.

Princess Elisabeth Island will be the world’s first artificial energy island to combine direct current (HVDC) and alternating current (HVAC). The high-voltage infrastructure on the island will bundle together the export cables from the wind farms in the 3.5 GW Princess Elisabeth Zone while also serving as a hub for future interconnectors with the United Kingdom (Nautilus) and Denmark (TritonLink).

The Jan De Nul and South Korea’s LS Cable & System consortium, as well as DEME and Greece’s Hellenic Cables consortium, will be responsible for supplying the subsea cables.

The HSI joint venture (JV), comprising HSM Offshore Energy, Smulders, and Iv, will design and build HVAC substations for the world’s first energy island.

The HVAC cable contracts have been awarded to two consortia, one consisting of DEME and Hellenic Cables, and the second one comprising Jan De Nul and LS Cable & System.

Hellenic Cables will manufacture the cables, which will cover 165 kilometers, at its factory in Greece, with the transport and installation campaign planned for 2027.

As the leader in the consortium, DEME will deploy one of its cable installation vessels, as well as several trailing suction hopper dredgers, and jack-up vessels on the project.

DEME, as part of the Belgian consortium TM EDISON, secured the contract from Elia to construct the island in early 2023. The first caissons for the project are scheduled to be immersed this year.

The contract that Jan De Nul and LS Cable & System consortium signed with the TSO includes works for three 220 kV high-voltage cables with a combined length of 165 kilometers.

LS Cable is responsible for the design and production of the cables at its factory in South Korea. Jan De Nul will carry out the transport, installation, and protection of the cables between the island and the Belgian coast.

For this purpose, the company will use its cable-laying vessels Connector, Willem de Vlamingh, and assistance vessel Adhémar de Saint-Venant. Its trailing suction hopper dredgers will pre-level the seabed before laying the cables, said Jan De Nul.

The HSI joint venture has been awarded the contract for the Modular Offshore Grid 2 (MOG2) for the world’s first artificial energy island by Elia.

The engineering, procurement, construction & installation, and commissioning (EPCIC) contract includes the further design and construction of four HVAC substations, two of which are 1,050 MW while the other two are 700 MW, a facility module, and a garage.

Engineering, which also includes the development of the layout and 3D model of all the MOG2 transmission assets located on Princess Elisabeth Island will be done from the Iv office in Papendrecht.

For prefabrication works, Smulders will use its Belgian branches and HSM will carry out the works from its Schiedam facilities.

Final assembly of the modules will take place at the HSM Offshore Energy yard in Schiedam and at the Smulders yard in Vlissingen.

Construction of the HVAC substations is planned to start in May 2025 and installation on the island is expected to take place from 2027. Construction is planned to last until the first quarter of 2029.