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The Belgian Council of Ministers has decided to postpone the tender for an offshore wind farm in the Princess Elisabeth Zone I until 2026.
According to Mathieu Bihet, Federal Minister of Energy, the offshore wind tender for the first lot of the Princess Elisabeth Zone involved several risks: major legal uncertainties, an unrealistic calendar, and a vague financial framework.
A new tender is planned to be launched by the end of the first quarter of 2026, the ministry said.
The tender process for the first of three lots in the Princess Elisabeth Zone was launched in November 2024. The winner was expected to be announced in December 2025.
The site covers 46 square kilometres and is suitable for constructing an offshore wind farm with a generation capacity of 700 MW.
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One of the companies that announced its participation in the tender was Ocean Winds. In July 2024, the company entered into a strategic partnership with Eneco and Otary to compete in the Belgian auction.
The Princess Elisabeth Zone , whose main development is the Princess Elisabeth Island, the world’s first artificial energy island, will see up to 3.5 GW of new offshore wind farms connecting to the island’s infrastructure.
Construction of the artificial energy island, which will be built some 45 kilometres off the Belgian coast, is already underway. In April 2025, the first two of 23 caissons were submerged at their final location.