Clifford Chance

Clifford Chance advised Elia with the award of 3 critical construction contracts for the world's first energy island

Clifford Chance is advising Elia, Belgium's electricity TSO, with the development and construction of the Princess Elisabeth Island. The world's first energy island will be built some 45 kilometers of the Belgian coast to connect 3.5 GW of additional offshore wind capacity while also serving as a hub for future interconnectors with our neighboring countries.

The successful award of 3 critical EPCI construction contracts marks another crucial milestone for the project, which is at forefront of Europe's energy transition and the delivery of green electricity to about 3.5 million Belgian households.

They relate to the installation of 330 km of HVAC cables between the artificial island and the Belgian coast as well as the installation of four HVAC substations on the island with a total capacity of 2.1 GW.

The HVAC cable contracts have been awarded to two consortia: one comprising Jan De Nul and LS Cable & System (165km), the other DEME and Hellenic Cables (165km).

The contract for the HVAC substations has been awarded to HSI, a consortium consisting of Iemants (Smulders), HSM Offshore Energy and IV-Offshore & Energy.

The Clifford Chance team provided comprehensive legal support to Elia throughout the entire tender process and equally supported Elia with the earlier award of the construction contract for the artificial island's foundations to TM Edison, a consortium between Jan De Nul and DEME, in March 2023.

Elia Transmission Belgium and the wider Elia Group (including the German TSO 50Hertz) are a longstanding client of Clifford Chance, and we are proud to continue working with them on the public tenders for the next work packages of this flagship project supporting a sustainable future.

The core Clifford Chance team was led by partner Patrice Viaene and senior associate Philippe Baert from our Brussels office, and further consisted of associates Louis De Meulemeester and Yonathan Tison.