In the North Sea, a Belgian "energy island" faces an explosion in costs

Installed in an area of ​​six hectares, 45 kilometers from the Belgian coast, this "island" will bring together the submarine cables of offshore wind turbines and transformers in an "electricity hub", to transport the current to the mainland and connect Belgium to its European neighbors.

The artificial island is like "an extension cord with multiple sockets," explains Joannes Laveyne, a researcher at Ghent University.

Launched in 2021, the project is presented as the cornerstone of the future Belgian electricity network, based on a considerable expansion of renewable energies to free the country from its dependence on fossil fuels.

Belgium plans to install 3,5 GW of offshore wind farms over the next few years, which would be enough to power all households and cover 30% of the country's needs, the government says.

Construction work has begun in the Dutch port of Flushing, where massive concrete blocks will serve as the foundation for the future island, named "Princess Elisabeth", in honour of the Belgian royal couple's eldest daughter.

The challenge is considerable for this country of 12 million inhabitants, whose overall energy supply still relies 70% on fossil sources, compared to some 12% on renewables.

But from an initial amount of 2,2 billion euros, the cost of Princess Elisabeth Island has more than tripled, to 7 billion, according to an estimate cited in Parliament last week, which the network manager Elia did not want to confirm.

“Need for transformative projects”

"This increase in costs is very worrying," Belgian Energy Minister, environmentalist Tinne Van der Straeten, told AFP.

The causes include the war in Ukraine and the difficult weaning from dependence on Russian gas, which has caused a rush towards renewables and an explosion in prices.

"In all countries, we want to buy the same equipment", "cables", "AC/DC converters" between alternating current and direct current and even "access to boats", Frédéric Dunon, CEO of Elia Transmission Belgium, stressed to AFP.

On the consumer side, particularly large industrialists, some already fear that the additional costs will weigh on future electricity bills and are calling for the project to be rethought or suspended.

Wearing a yellow construction helmet, in the port of Flushing, Minister Tinne Van der Straeten defends the project tooth and nail.

"We need transformative projects, huge projects like this," she claims, in line with the European objective of reaching 42,5% of renewable energy in the EU by 2030, around double the current situation.

While trying to reduce costs, the Belgian government is also calling for more European funding, since other countries will benefit from the island's services.

Elia received a loan of 650 million euros from the European Investment Bank (EIB) last week.

The project is supported by environmentalists, reassured by the promises of a design that respects nature, the reproduction of seabirds and accompanied by an artificial reef to stimulate biodiversity.

But environmentalists fear that the future Belgian government, still being formed, will not have the same ideas and will open the way to a postponement and the maintenance of more polluting energy sources.

More broadly, NGOs fear that the rise of the extreme right at European level will call into question the EU's climate objectives.

Stopping wind projects because of their costs would be like "throwing the baby out with the bathwater", warns Almut Bonhage of the environmental organisation Bond Beter Leefmilieu.