Elia Transmission Belgium has secured €650m to realise the first phase of the Princess Elisabeth Island project, an artificial energy island off the Belgian coast.

ETB, Belgian’s electricity system operator, and the European Investment Bank (EIB) have signed a €650m ‘green credit facility agreement’ to start work on the project.

This artificial island, constructed between 2024 and 2027, will be located about 27.9 miles off the Belgian coast in the North Sea and within the Princess Elisabeth wind zone.

Consisting of wind turbines, as well as both high-voltage direct current and alternating current infrastructure, the project aims to integrate 3.5GW of offshore wind capacity into Belgium’s electricity grid, with the potential to power more than three million households.

ETB says that this is an important project to reduce the country’s reliance on fossil fuels, as well as help Europe transition towards green energy and meet the EU’s renewable energy targets.

The high-voltage infrastructure...