CDR International has prepared, in close cooperation with IMDC and Svasek Hydraulics, the tender reference design and tender documents for the Energy Island, to be commissioned by Elia the Belgian transmission operator.
The Energy Island project aims at developing and building new grid infrastructure, including offshore transmission infrastructure and cables, in the Belgian part of the North Sea. This follows the designation by Belgium’s Government in the Marine Spatial Plan 2020-2026 of new zones for production and transmission of renewable energy in the Princess Elisabeth windfarm area.
The project purpose is to create an energy hub – in the form of an artificial island – not only to provide an efficient, reliable means of connecting new Belgian offshore power to the mainland, but also to make optimal use of the power production areas in other parts of the North Sea by accommodating a connection point for (hybrid) interconnectors.
CDR International has been responsible for the preparation of the reference design for tender of the artificial island. These works included
- the specification of the functional- and performance requirements,
- global hydraulic safety assessment,
- island layout design,
- the hydraulic design of the protective structures (caisson-type seawall),
- scour protection design and
- supervision of 2D physical model testing for overtopping and wave force measurements.
The artificial island design consists a of 5.5ha of useful land area for the grid infrastructure, a sheltered harbour for Crew Transfer Vessels (CTV) mooring, a caisson perimeter protection with a parapet seawall, drainage system for (overtopping) water, scour protection and dredge design around the island.
Commission of the island, including different options for installation of the grid infrastructure, cable landings and cable management are considered in design, as well as the constructability of the island in the middle of the North Sea.
The tender package has recently been submitted in Q2 2022 to the selected bidders.
