Jan De Nul has installed all 23 foundation elements for the Princess Elisabeth Island, the world’s first artificial energy island, being built 45 kilometres off the Belgian coast. The project is now entering the next phase of construction, according to the company.
Developed by Belgium grid operator Elia Group, the project is being built by TM Edison, a consortium including DEME and Jan De Nul.
The installation of the caissons, which form the outer walls of the future island, started in April last year , when the first two concrete structures were submerged at the energy island’s site.
The offshore construction campaign for 2025 was completed in October last year and resumed this spring with the installation of the remaining caissons, alongside continued work to prepare the island’s interior, Jan De Nul said in January, when the company announced it had completed the fabrication of all 23 caissons.
Each caisson weighs approximately 22,000 tonnes and measures 58 metres in length, 28 metres in width, and between 23 and 32 metres in height, depending on the presence of a storm wall.
The caissons were built in Vlissingen, with around 300 people working on their construction every day, according to Jan De Nul, which says building a single caisson took approximately three months.
The company also said the island incorporates a nature-inclusive design, a key part of which is the creation of new oyster reefs.
“Through the Reefcovery project, we worked with our partners to grow young oysters on rocks, which we installed around the island at the end of July. A win‑win: the rocks protect the island against erosion and form the basis for a new oyster reef. This installation builds on our expertise in restoring oyster reefs in the North Sea and reinforces our ambition to embed nature‑positive design in our core activities”, said Bart Callens , Project Director for the Princess Elisabeth Island at Jan De Nul.
With the island’s full foundation structure now completed, the project is entering the next phase, which involves reclaiming the island with sand within the caisson structure over the coming months.
The cable connections to the mainland will be installed in 2027 and 2028, with the installation of the island’s electrical infrastructure scheduled to begin in 2029.
According to information from Jan De Nul from earlier this year, the company will deploy one of its new cable-laying vessels (CLVs) to install three AC cables that will connect the Princess Elisabeth Island to shore.
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The final completion of the project is planned for 2031, when the energy island will be ready to bring first electricity ashore.
The Princess Elisabeth Island will serve as a key connection point for transporting at least 2.1 GW of offshore wind energy generated in the Princess Elisabeth Zone to the mainland.
This will be the first artificial energy island in the world to combine both direct current (HVDC) and alternating current (HVAC). The high-voltage infrastructure on the island will bundle together the electricity cables from the wind farms in the Princess Elisabeth Zone.
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