2023-10-14 05:18:00
”Three years ago, it was all just a pitch. Today, we are in full construction. We are moving forward at full speed to be able to connect our wind turbines in the North Sea which will provide us with green electricity,” enthuses Tinne Van der Straeten in front of a giant swimming pool shaken by artificial waves.
In the middle of this vast greenish body of water is fixed, on a bed of rocks, rubble and sand, a model of an artificial island. This is a reproduction of the North Sea seen from Ostend at a scale of 1/60. This artificial island is Princess Elisabeth Island which, in 5 years, should make it possible to connect all offshore electricity production. This production should reach 3.5 GW, the equivalent of three nuclear power plants.
Elia tests the resistance of a model at the DHI wave laboratory in Denmark. ©DT
This island is a world first. The project is pharaonic. Located approximately 45 kilometers from the coast, it will cover an area of approximately 6 hectares. The island will be located in the middle of the Princess Elisabeth area and will be built on concrete caissons filled with sand. The island will almost exclusively house transmission infrastructure, both to connect new wind farms and to connect future interconnections. A small port is also planned for maintenance teams, as is a helideck. To connect all future offshore installations to the Belgian high voltage network, 300 km of alternating current cables and 60 km of direct current cables will be installed around the island.
But taking this space on the sea is not easy. 23 concrete caissons with a length of approximately 58 meters, a width of 28 meters and a height of 28 meters will have to be built, stored and then towed to the offshore site. The operation is equivalent to transporting 23 apartments in the middle of a sea which can be stormy. Once built, this new territory will have to resist the most violent maritime movements.
It is to prepare for this that Elia, the manager of the future island, is carrying out tests in the wave laboratory of the DHI (Danish study center specializing in the aquatic environment). The tests simulate the effect of 10-year, 100-year and 1000-year storms. This Friday, the Minister of Energy is witnessing a reproduction of a thousand-year storm, a storm of those which statistics say only occurs once every thousand years. The test shows that the island will be able to withstand waves up to 7 meters high.
If Tinne Van der Straeten does not hide her joy at seeing her project come to fruition, she nevertheless recognizes that its development is not without concerns. The margins are short. We are in a real race against time. The project can hardly suffer from delays. During the summers of 2024 and 2025, the famous apartment-sized caissons will be poured onto pre-installed rock foundations. Next, the island will be installed on the caissons and prepared for the construction of the high voltage electrical infrastructure. Construction will last approximately two years (between March 2024 and August 2026).
The former CEO of Elia welcomes Minister Van der Straeten. ©DR
If the project is delayed, the Belgian hydraulic companies DEME and Jan de Nul could lose part of the 100 million euros in European subsidies. At this stage, Elia still refuses to communicate the real cost of this project “because the acquisition process is still ongoing” and “any amount would be premature”. But on the minister’s side, we are already talking about 600 million euros.
“Europe believes a lot in such projects,” continues Tinne Van der Straeten. “This “power strip” in the North Sea will allow electricity to go in all directions. As soon as there is wind in Denmark, electricity can be transmitted by cable to our home. The opposite will also be possible.”
This bill of 600 million euros, the private company Elia, which holds the monopoly on electricity transmission in Belgium, will pass it on to the Belgians’ bills, as it does for all its construction sites and investment projects. How much will this increase be? Elia doesn’t know how to communicate it yet. The tariff file is currently submitted to the CREG, the price regulator, with the most recent estimates.
You should know that the cost of transport in the electricity bill represents a limited percentage (between 3 and 4% of the bill). In absolute figures, the average family paid 35 euros in transport costs last year. The postponement of the costs of this gigantic project should increase this part of the bill to around 60 euros, according to certain recent projections.
For Elia as much as for Minister Groen, it is a matter of evil for the better. “If we do not make these investments, the societal costs will be much higher,” says the transport network manager. “In the end, this will reduce the electricity bill,” adds Tinne Van der Straeten. “Once everything is installed, these wind turbines will not need fuel, gas, uranium or oil. They will only need the wind which is there for everyone. An energy whose costs are only going down and which, in the end, will lower people’s bills.”
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