This is Belgium.
It’s where you’ll find the headquarters of the European Union,
it’s given us some of the best chocolate and beer that money can buy and until
recently it was home to the world’s highest-ranked national football team.
Not bad for a country with less than 12 million people.
In other words, it’s defied its modest size to become a frontrunner in lots of different areas,
and very soon it’s going to lead the way again, but in something that’s never been done before.
We’re talking about a new type of infrastructure
that will transform how energy is distributed across Europe.
Here’s how Belgium is building the world’s first energy island.
Now, let’s hang on just a second. If you’ve been a follower of Tomorrow’s
Build since the beginning then you might be getting a sense of déjà vu.
“What did you just say? Nothing, just had a little déjà vu.”
Don’t worry, this isn’t a glitch in The Matrix;
we have brought up the subject of energy islands before.
Denmark has been gearing up to build two of them for years now,
and we did a video on that way back in 2021.
But things have moved on a bit since then. It seems their North Sea neighbours are
about to get there first, thanks in part to a construction method that’s extremely clever.
Although we will come on to that, for the benefit of those who didn’t see that video,
or if you could do with a bit of a recap, what exactly is an energy island?
Well, it’s a new type of artificial island that’s built far offshore — in this case 45km
away from the Belgian coast — and equipped with high-voltage electrical infrastructure.
It enables power generated by nearby wind farms to be sent not just back to shore,
but on to other hubs and countries in the region.
They essentially help create an interconnected electricity grid when more of them are built.
You see, the EU in particular has big plans for offshore wind.
Yes, it currently only has around 16GW of installed capacity at the moment,
but it wants to get to 300GW by 2050.
If or when this does happen, energy islands are going to be an important
part of making sure all that power gets back to land efficiently.
And this is what the first ever one will look like.
The Princess Elisabeth Island, which we think is named after the daughter
of Belgium’s King Philippe, will be the size of about 12 football pitches.
It’ll be made from concrete caissons filled with sand. There will also be a small harbour
and helicopter platform, so people such as maintenance crews can actually get there.
Construction is set to begin in early 2024, taking around two and a half years to complete.
Before we get into how Belgium is actually building this island,
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Now, let’s get back to the video.
So, what does it take to build something like this in the middle of the sea,
especially when electricity and water don’t usually go well together?
First of all, let’s start with those caissons, which will be prefabricated on land.
The factory will have a construction lane that puts together these giant
building blocks in five stages, from the base slab to the walls and roof.
Once the concrete is fully cured, they’ll be carried off for temporary
storage until they’re ready to be taken away for offshore installation.
Meanwhile, pre-construction dredging gets underway at the site location, before another
ship lays the foundations for the caissons to lie on around the perimeter of the island.
No, your eyes aren’t deceiving you — that boat there really is called Simon.
It gets its name from Simon Stevin — you know,
the Belgian mathematician who invented the decimal point? OK, we had to look that up.
Anyway, after Simon has finished prepping the seabed, those caissons are transported over
by tugboat and lowered, starting at the south side of the island.
Anchors and winches are used to position the caissons,
which are ballasted with water to keep them stable.
When they have all been placed, a dredger begins pumping sand
into what will become the interior of the island, until around half of it is filled.
The sand is then compacted, before a concrete batching plant is installed on the island,
while more sand continues to be pumped in up the other end.
Next, rocks are brought in by boat to create the boundary for the harbour.
A high concrete wall will then be built on top
of the caissons to protect the island from strong waves, wind and flooding.
Then it’s time to pack down that concrete plant, along with all the other construction equipment,
to make way for the electrical installation works.
The island is being built for Elia Group, one of Europe’s leading electricity transmission
companies, with design and construction carried out by a consortium called TM EDISON.
When finished it will unleash the potential of a new offshore
wind zone being planned for this part of the North Sea.
It will have a capacity of 3.5GW — enough to power about three and a half million homes.
There are also plans to use it as a sort of node for building
new undersea connections with the UK and Denmark.
Ah yes, about Denmark. Their energy island project is still going ahead,
but it looks like it will take a few years longer — more like 2030.
But it’s important to remember this isn’t really a race; it’s not all about being first.
The whole point is they will ultimately end up being used to share renewable
energy between countries, helping everyone move away from fossil fuels.
That only works if nations work together rather than compete.
It’s why Belgium and Denmark have signed an agreement to connect their
energy islands when they’re all up and running.
This could reduce their CO2 emissions by four megatonnes each year.
Germany and The Netherlands are looking into their own energy islands too,
which could become operational in the early 2030s.
If all these projects do go to plan then in just one decade’s time Europe will have taken a big
step towards a fully interconnected power grid, at least between the countries around the North Sea.
And who knows, it could even inspire nations from further
afield to take a similar approach in the future.
After all, finding new and effective ways to spread renewable energy as
far and wide as possible should involve everyone.
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