An 'energy island': What is the ambitious project that Belgium is betting on?

Idafe Martin

02/15/2021 6:01 AM

• Clarín.com

• World

Updated 02/15/2021 6:01 AM

The

Belgian

government

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 that 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 looking to plant 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, on

an artificial island

.

It is a project that has been talked about in the past several times but that always ended up being neglected in part due to its excessive cost.

The arrival of post-pandemic European funds now serves to finance part and re-launch the plan, when the country seeks to become one of the pioneers of renewable energy to stop using fossil fuels.

The current Belgian wind farms that are already at sea are connected to land thanks to a huge “plug” built by the company Elia, which manages that 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

5G and future generation 6G telecommunications antennas

.

A wind power plant in Grand Leez, Belgium.

Photo: EFE

If the project succeeds, the island will be connected to land and it will be connected to energy facilities installed in the sea, such as the growing fleet of offshore wind turbines that has made

Belgium the fourth country in the world in developing offshore wind energy

.

Connection with other countries

It will also be the place from which Belgium will connect its electrical network to Denmark's via high-voltage cables after connecting overland with France and the Netherlands.

Don't expect oases or hotel complexes.

Citizens will not be able to visit it freely

.

The Ministry of Energy, headed by Flemish ecologist Tinne Van Der Straeten, estimates that "with the support of European funds, the electricity rates on this island should be even lower than the current ones."

The project is in its technical studies phase.

The government wants the island to give more, such as to host data center computer servers and to connect floating photovoltaic panels that would be located between existing offshore mills and those that will be installed in the future.

The Ministry of Energy estimates that

the construction of the island alone would cost about 420 million euros,

so it would take almost 10% of the 5 billion euros that Belgium receives from new European funds.

The government acknowledges that working offshore is more expensive but that the extra 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, is that the island be built and operational

by mid-2025.

The island will not be built, according to plans by the Ministry of Energy, based on accumulating rocks and pulverized sand.

Belgium intends to make a cement structure that 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 (about 40 kilometers) will make it invisible from the Belgian beaches.

Belgium is not the only country studying similar constructions.

The companies that manage the electrical networks 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 in front of the Dutch port .

Brussels, special

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