PRINCESS ELISABETH ISLAND

Princess Elisabeth, where the project is located, is an artificial island located 45 km off the Belgian coast. The project will cover the first phase of the programme supporting the island's electricity transmission infrastructure.

The project will act as an electricity hub connecting new planned offshore wind farms and interconnectors to the onshore electrical transmission grid.

The project is an artificial energy island designed to host electricity infrastructure. This is the first phase in a project that will eventually act as a hub for a planned new offshore wind zone, connecting to the onshore electrical transmission grid. The entire project also known as the Princess Elisabeth Island project. The project is supporting the deployment of new offshore wind renewable capacity, consistent with EU 2030 climate and renewable targets and 2050 net-zero emission ambitions in Belgium and the EU.

The Project addresses a number of market challenges:

as enabling infrastructure for the connection of significant (+3.5GW) new planned offshore wind capacity, the Project will contribute to further increase security of supply, which can be considered a public good. The integration of low-carbon generation reduces carbon and air pollution externalities.

As it is the planned landing point for future Interconnectors with the UK and the Nordic countries, this Project also has potential future cross border impact, increasing interconnection capacity and strengthening the internal EU energy market. Electricity interconnectors increase competition and reduce market power.

The Project supports the Sustainable Energy public policy goal, in particular by contributing to secure the necessary enabling infrastructure, in line with the Bank's Energy Lending Policy.

According to the EU Taxonomy, electricity transmission infrastructure in the interconnected European System (on a decarbonisation trajectory) is also considered as making a Substantial contribution to climate change mitigation, and hence contributing to the Bank's Climate Action objective.

The use of an artificial island as an electricity connection hub is a first-of-a-kind in Europe and even in the world. 

The Project is deemed to deliver very good economic benefits and good social benefits. The Beneficiary (Elia Transmission Belgium) is an experienced operator of electricity transmission networks with a sound project management structure. The contractors used for marine works (DEME and Jan De Nul) are also experienced in this field with a proven track record of similar projects. The employment impact of the Project is rated Good, according to the Bank's methodology. With the appropriate conditions in place (please see ESDS), the Project is acceptable for financing in environmental and social terms.

The artificial island was subject to an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) procedure. The Competent Authority issued an environmental permit on 26 September 2023. The project will contribute to the climate action and environmental sustainability (CA&ES) objectives, in particular to climate mitigation.

As a regulated electricity transmission system operation, the promoter is bound to implement public procurement procedures as per requirements of the Utilities Directive (2014/25 /EU), as well as Directive 92/13/EEC as interpreted by the Court of Justice of the EU, with publication of tender notices in the EU Official Journal, as and where required.