Belgium’s Princess Elisabeth Island energy project in the North Sea will cost several billion euros, but the final price remains confidential, grid operator Elia said on Monday.
The project has already sparked extensive debate over its cost. Estimates circulating so far range from €7 billion to at least €9 billion, depending on whether they include a new high-voltage link with the UK.
Speaking on Monday as it signed a new €1-billion credit facility with the European Investment Bank, Elia provided fresh details on the first phase of the project. That part will cost €3.6 billion.
The sum covers construction of the island itself and all the infrastructure needed to connect it to the first two wind farms to be built in the Princess Elisabeth zone.
Elia gave no new figures for the second phase, which includes a direct-current connection to a third wind farm and the development of a second electricity link with the UK.
The company’s original plans for that phase were rejected by the government in 2025 for being too expensive. At the time, the island’s cost risked rising to between €7 billion and €8 billion, excluding Nautilus, the planned new cable linking Belgium and the UK.
Elia has since drawn up a lighter version of the second phase of the Princess Elisabeth project, Elia Transmission Belgium chief executive Frédéric Dunon said. The revised plan slightly reduces capacity and cuts the number of cables to be installed.
According to Dunon, those changes could lower the cost of the direct-current infrastructure by €2 billion. Energy Minister Mathieu Bihet must now decide whether to approve the revised plan.
Elia said it could not yet disclose how that €2 billion saving would affect the project’s final cost. Dunon said the information was confidential for now.
It also remains unclear how the cost of Nautilus will be shared between Belgium and the UK.
