DEME and Hellenic Cables tie-up awarded contract on world’s first artificial energy island
A consortium of Belgian shipowner and marine services contractor DEME and Greece’s Hellenic Cables, the cables segment of Cenergy Holdings, has sealed a deal to supply and install the high-voltage subsea cables for the Princess Elisabeth Island in the Belgian North Sea.
The Princess Elisabeth Island, developed by grid operator Elia, will be the world’s first artificial energy island that combines both direct current (HVDC) and alternating current (HVAC). The island’s infrastructure will bundle the wind farm export cables of the gigawatt-scale Princess Elisabeth zone together, while also serving as a hub for future interconnectors with other European countries.
The scope of the contract, worth for DEME more than €300m ($322.5m), covers 165km of subsea power cables connecting the energy island with the Belgian onshore electricity grid. The cables will be produced at the Hellenic Cables factory in Greece, with the transport and installation campaign planned for 2027. DEME will deploy one of its cable layers as well as several trailing suction hopper dredgers and jackup vessels on the project.
DEME, as part of the Belgian consortium with Jan De Nul — TM Edison — also secured the contract from Elia to build the energy island itself, which will be located some 45km from the Belgian coast.
Jan De Nul and Korean corporation LS Cable & System have also been contracted for cabling works, while the contract for HVAC substations went to the HSI consortium consisting of Belgian company Iemants and Dutch firms HSM Offshore Energy and IV-Offshore & Energy.
