Eneco| Ocean Winds and Otary team up for Princess Elisabeth tender

Eneco, Ocean Winds (the joint venture between EDP Renewables and ENGIE) and Otary, have teamed up to tender for the offshore wind Princess Elisabeth concessions in Belgium.

The consortium will compete in the upcoming tenders for the Princess Elisabeth Zone (PEZ), expected to be a highly competitive bidding process, which is expected to begin in 2025.

The zone will be split into three lots which will accommodate fixed-bottom wind projects. One lot will be used for the development of a 700MW offshore wind farm and two lots for the development of offshore wind farms each ranging from 1,225 to 1,400MW.

Mathias Verkest, CEO at Otary - a Belgian renewable energy developer - commented in a statement: “The Princess Elisabeth tenders will be complex, based on the Belgian’s Government ambition to realize the new offshore wind farms on a very tight time schedule, at the lowest price for society and while grid infrastructure is still under development.

"As a Belgian company and offshore wind specialist, Otary wants to continue being at the forefront of our country’s energy transition. Our historical partnership with Ocean Winds and Eneco has been very successful and brings together the elements required by the government to be successful again on PEZ.”

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Site assessments are currently being conducted and Belgian transmission system operator Elia has started construction on the Princess Elisabeth Island. The Island will be an energy hub 45km off the coast connecting the wind farms and additional interconnectors (to the UK and Denmark) to Belgium's onshore power grid.

Miguel de Schaetzen, CEO Eneco Wind Belgium said: “With our One Planet Plan we act on a real ambition: becoming climate neutral by 2035. In order to do so we need to further speed up our investments in renewable energy.

“Proud and grateful to be a part of this consortium with expert partners – whom we have a long-term relationship with...” concluded de Schaetzen.

Eneco has been active in offshore wind power since 2007 and is currently involved in 8 wind farms in the North Sea, including the Norther and SeaMade projects in Belgium.

Otary has been instrumental in developing offshore renewable energy in Belgium and has an 800MW portfolio of operational projects.

Ocean Winds, a 50:50 joint venture between ENGIE and EDPR, is developing, building and operating offshore wind farms in eight countries worldwide. The partnership has 1.5GW of offshore wind energy in operation and is currently building another 2GW in France and the United Kingdom.

Wouter Vandekerkhove, country manager Belgium and Netherlands for Ocean Winds, added: “Ocean Winds is thrilled to partner once again with Otary and Eneco for the Princess Elisabeth offshore wind tenders. Our participation will be based on our international expertise and experience from our three operational offshore wind farms and four under construction, combined with Otary and Eneco’s local knowledge.”

The partners teamed up previously on the SeaMade offshore wind farm, which consists of two concession zones, Seastar and Mermaid, and has been fully operational since the end of 2020. SeaMade produces enough power for 500,000 Belgian homes on an annual basis.

Belgium has nine operational offshore wind farms and is the 4th largest offshore wind energy producer globally behind the UK, Germany and China.

The total offshore wind capacity in Belgium is expected to increase to 5.8GW by 2030, tripling its current capacity.