Boskalis Hirdes has resumed major UXO identification and clearance operations off Zeebrugge using the multitool vessel Manu-Pekka and a UXO Offshore Support Vessel to enable safe installation of submarine export cables along the 55-kilometer MOG2 cable route to Princess Elisabeth Island.
Jan De Nul completed the construction and float-out of all 23 massive concrete caisson structures that will form the base of Princess Elisabeth Island, marking the end of onshore fabrication at the Vlissingen yard. The caissons, which constitute the physical backbone of the artificial energy island, have been moved to the Scaldia terminal for finishing works ahead of the next offshore installation phase in the North Sea.
In mid‑September 2025, Jan De Nul, leading the TM Edison consortium with DEME for Elia Transmission Belgium, installed the last massive concrete structure for the 2025 offshore campaign, completing that year’s phase of placing caissons that form the outer walls of the Princess Elisabeth Island energy hub about 45 km off the Belgian coast.
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Princess Elisabeth Island (Modular Offshore Grid II, MOG2) is an artificial offshore energy island being developed by the Belgian TSO Elia Transmission Belgium to collect and aggregate power from the Princess Elisabeth Zone wind farms and export it to the onshore grid. The hub is located approxim...
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Princess Elisabeth Island, Princess Elisabeth Energy Island, Princess Elisabeth Island project, Princess Elisabeth Island (PEI), PEI, MOG2, MOG II, MOG II energy island, Modular Offshore Grid 2, Princess Elisabeth Island MOG2 energy island
HSM Offshore Energy and partners state that construction of the Modular Offshore Grid 2 (MOG2) HVAC substations for Princess Elisabeth Island starts in May 2025, and Elia Group's Q1 2025 quarterly statement confirms that construction of the island's foundations and HVAC infrastructure is underway and progressing as planned, indicating that onshore construction began on schedule in May 2025.
Within Belgium’s recovery and resilience plan, the Princess Elisabeth Island project secured a €100 million loan from the European Recovery and Resilience Facility under NextGenerationEU, providing additional concessional financing support for development of the offshore energy island and its grid infrastructure.
Offshore construction of the Princess Elisabeth Island (MOG II) energy hub effectively begins in the 2024–2027 period, with TM Edison (led by Jan De Nul and DEME) building and installing large concrete caisson structures 45 km off the Belgian coast for project owner Elia Transmission Belgium. Caissons are fabricated in Vlissingen (Netherlands), then sunk at sea and filled with sand to form the island’s foundations, and by mid‑September 2025 Jan De Nul reports that the latest set of massive concrete structures forming the island’s outer walls has been installed offshore, confirming that marine construction is underway.
On 25 October 2024, the European Investment Bank and Elia Transmission Belgium signed a €650 million green credit facility agreement to finance the first phase of the Princess Elisabeth Island project, the Belgian offshore energy island that will integrate 3.5 GW of additional offshore wind capacity into the national grid and act as a hub for future interconnectors.
Elia awarded an EPCIC contract for Modular Offshore Grid 2 on Princess Elisabeth Island to the HSI Joint Venture, comprising HSM Offshore Energy, Smulders, and Iv-Offshore & Energy. The contract covers the detailed design, procurement, construction, installation, and commissioning of four HVAC substations (two 1,050 MW and two 700 MW units), plus a facility module and a garage that will bundle export cables from the Princess Elisabeth Zone wind farms and interface with future interconnectors.
Elia awarded an HVAC export cable contract to a consortium of Jan De Nul and LS Cable & System for Princess Elisabeth Island. LS Cable & System will design and produce three 220 kV high-voltage subsea cables with a combined length of about 165 km at its South Korean factory, while Jan De Nul will handle transport, installation, and protection of the cables between the island and the Belgian coast using its dedicated cable-laying and dredging vessels, with offshore works planned around 2027.
Elia Transmission Belgium awarded the contract to construct the civil infrastructure of Princess Elisabeth Island to the TM EDISON consortium, led by Jan De Nul and including DEME, in early 2023. The scope covers building the artificial energy island’s concrete caisson structures that form the outer walls and base for the future offshore grid hub in the Belgian North Sea.
According to an EIB project summary for the Princess Elisabeth Island electrical infrastructure, the competent authority issued an environmental permit for the project on 26 September 2023, following an Environmental Impact Assessment procedure carried out under Directive 2011/92/EU as amended by Directive 2014/52/EU. The permit authorises the construction and operation of the offshore energy island and its associated grid infrastructure approximately 45 km off the Belgian coast in the North Sea. The environmental permit covers the Modular Offshore Grid 2 (MOG II) programme, which includes both HVAC and HVDC transmission infrastructure on and connected to the artificial island. The EIA process evaluated impacts on the marine environment, Natura 2000 sites, navigation, fisheries, and visual amenity. Elia Transmission Belgium, as project promoter, submitted the environmental permit application on 9 January 2023 and the competent authority granted the permit approximately eight months later. This permit is a key regulatory milestone enabling physical construction works to proceed, with offshore caisson installation and civil works subsequently commencing in 2024 under the TM Edison consortium (Jan De Nul and DEME).
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