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Belgium’s Princess Elisabeth Island reached a construction milestone in mid-September 2025: the last concrete caisson planned for that year’s offshore campaign was installed. The artificial island is not complete or connected to the grid. Its contractor, DEME, said offshore work had ended for the season and was expected to resume in spring 2026, weather permitting.
What milestone did the project reach?
DEME reported that the final caisson planned for the 2025 offshore campaign was installed in mid-September. More than 300 people and 15 specialized vessels took part in that campaign, according to the contractor’s October 2025 update. The installation marks progress on the island’s physical foundation; it does not mean the island is finished, commissioned, or carrying electricity.
DEME said offshore activity was expected to resume in spring 2026, weather permitting. That is a forward-looking project update, not a guarantee of a restart date.
What is Princess Elisabeth Island?
Planned about 45 km off Belgium’s coast, Princess Elisabeth Island is an artificial electricity hub in the North Sea. Its job is to collect and route power from the future Princess Elisabeth offshore wind zone to Belgium’s onshore grid, with potential connections to the electricity networks of Great Britain and Denmark. The island is transmission infrastructure, not a wind farm and not a power generator.
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The planned area for electrical infrastructure is about six hectares. Large concrete caissons filled with sand form the island. Elia and DEME describe a design combining high-voltage alternating current (HVAC) and high-voltage direct current (HVDC) systems. DEME has described the planned interconnectors as hybrid links, intended to connect offshore wind generation and allow electricity exchange between countries.
DEME’s 2023 description gives the future wind zone a planned capacity of 3.5 GW. That figure refers to the wind zone’s potential capacity—not electricity currently produced by the island.
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Why build an offshore hub?
Rather than bringing every connection independently to shore, an offshore hub is intended to bring together wind-farm connections and cross-border transmission links. In this project’s planned configuration, the hub would route offshore wind power into Belgium’s grid and could support interconnectors with neighboring countries. The mix of HVAC and HVDC infrastructure reflects the project’s transmission design; it does not mean every connection is already built or operating.
Elia Group CEO Chris Peeters characterized the plan as “the most cost-effective and reliable way to bring offshore wind to shore” and said the island “will be an island that provides options for the future.” This is a statement by a project stakeholder, rather than an independently established assessment of cost or reliability.
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What is the schedule—and why do published dates differ?
Project dates in published accounts are dated forecasts for different stages, not a single confirmed operating schedule. Construction of the physical island must also be distinguished from electrical fit-out, cable installation, wind-farm connections, and eventual operation.
| Source and date | Published schedule or status | What it refers to |
|---|---|---|
| Elia, October 2023 | Construction projected from March 2024 to August 2026 | A permit announcement’s construction forecast |
| European Investment Bank, April 2025 | Island due to be completed in 2027 | The island’s completion, with further phases for high-voltage infrastructure and wind-farm connections to follow |
| DEME, October 2025 | Offshore activity expected to resume in spring 2026, weather permitting | Resumption of offshore work after the 2025 campaign |
The EIB’s April 2025 account also noted rising prices for electrical equipment, particularly HVDC systems, and said Elia was evaluating options for next steps. The reviewed project updates do not establish a final current date for the island to become operational.
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How is the project funded?
The European Investment Bank’s April 2025 account reported a €650 million green credit facility for the first phase, which it described as having an estimated cost of €1.1 billion, and a €100 million EU subsidy. Those figures are attributed to the EIB’s account of the first phase; they should not be read as a complete cost for every later phase of the hub, electrical works, or connections.
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What environmental features are planned?
The EIB described nature-inclusive elements in the design: spaces above water for bird nesting and underwater structures intended to support oyster beds and other marine life. These are design measures and intentions. The cited project account does not establish measured ecological outcomes.
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Sources
- DEME, October 2025: 2025 offshore campaign milestone and planned seasonal pause
- Elia Group, 2023: project overview and location
- DEME Group, 2023: hub design and planned wind-zone capacity
- European Investment Bank, April 2025: financing, schedule, and nature-inclusive design
- Elia Group, October 2023: environmental permit and construction forecast
- Elia Group: Chris Peeters on the project’s intended role
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