What is the ambitious project on which Belgium is banking?

The government of Belgium plans to use part of the new post-pandemic European funds to finance the construction of a “multifunctional energy island” 40 kilometers from its coast and which would have 281 square kilometers of surface and only with wind energy it would be capable of producing 2.1 gigawatts of electricity, the same as two state-of-the-art nuclear reactors.

Belgium is not seeking to establish a tourist paradise in the middle of the North Sea, but it wants part of the country’s future energy infrastructure to be outside its territory, in an artificial island.

It is a project that has been talked about several times in the past but which has always been neglected in part because of its excessive cost. The arrival of post-pandemic European funds is now used to finance part and relaunch the plan, as the country seeks to become one of the pioneers of renewable energies to stop using fossil fuels.

The current Belgian wind farms which are already at sea are connected to the land thanks to a huge “plug” built by the company Elia, which manages this network. The idea of ​​these connections will be replaced in the future by the new island, which will also have other functions.

The island would be built on the Belgian coast near the French border and would host other activities, such as the production of green hydrogen and even Next-generation 5G and 6G telecommunications antennas.

If the project is successful, the island will be connected to land and it will be connected to energy facilities installed at sea, such as the growing fleet of offshore wind turbines that have converted Belgium ranked fourth in the world for the development of offshore wind energy.

Connection with other countries

It will also be the place from which Belgium will link its electricity network with that of Denmark via high voltage cables after a land connection with France and the Netherlands.

Don’t expect oases or resorts. Citizens will not be able to visit it freely. The Ministry of Energy, headed by Flemish ecologist Tinne Van Der Straeten, believes that “with the support of European funds, electricity prices on this island should be even lower than current ones”.

The project is in its technical studies phase. The government wants the island to give more, such as hosting data center computer servers and connecting floating photovoltaic panels that would be located between existing offshore factories and those to be installed in the future.

The Ministry of Energy estimates that the construction of the island alone would cost around 420 million euros, Belgium would therefore need nearly 10% of the 5,000 million euros to have new European funds.

The government recognizes that working overseas costs more, but the additional construction costs will pay off in a few years. The idea, if its construction ends up being launched and Brussels accepts the project as one of the pillars of the Belgian government’s national reform and investment plan, it is that the island is built and operational. by mid-2025.

The island will not be built, according to the plans of the Ministry of Energy, on the basis of the accumulation of rocks and pulverized sand. Belgium intends to build a cement structure which will be filled with sand. It will have five hectares (the equivalent of five football fields), three of which will be used for electrical connections and the other two for other planned activities. Its minimum altitude and its distance from the coast (around 40 kilometers) will make it invisible from Belgian beaches.

Belgium is not the only country to study similar constructions. The companies that manage the electricity grids of Denmark (Energienet), Germany (Tennet) and the Netherlands (Gasunie) are studying, with the company that manages the port of Rotterdam (the largest in Europe), the construction of a similar island opposite the Dutch port.

Brussels, special