Elia secures €1 billion European credit line for Princess Elisabeth Island

Elia has secured a €1 billion credit line from the European Investment Bank for the Princess Elisabeth Island, the artificial energy island taking shape in the North Sea. The bank described it as the largest credit line it has ever granted for an individual energy project.

The financing will support the island’s high-voltage substation, transformers and connections to the mainland. The island is designed to gather electricity from offshore wind farms and bring it ashore. It could also carry power from other North Sea wind farms toward Belgium.

This is not the project’s first European Investment Bank loan. The bank had previously granted a €650 million credit line. Elia estimates the first phase will cost €3.6 billion, including construction of the island and connections to the first two wind farms planned for the new offshore wind zone.

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logical

A later phase, involving a third wind farm and a new high-voltage cable to the United Kingdom, has been postponed because costs have risen. Elia CEO Frederic Dunon said construction of the current project remains on schedule. The concrete caissons that form the island are in place, and the island is expected to be filled with sand by the end of October.

Dunon said the loan’s favorable terms should help reduce the cost passed on to households and businesses. He acknowledged that debate over the project’s price was “logical” because households must watch their money. But he argued that failing to invest would bring more strain on the power grid, weaker economic growth and greater dependence on outside sources. Climate Minister Jean-Luc Crucke agreed, calling the island “really necessary” and “an essential link in our energy future.”

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really necessary. It is an essential link in our energy future.