IN Brief:
- Belgium has approved revised tender rules for the first approximately 700MW Princess Elisabeth Zone site.
- The procurement will use one two-sided Contract for Difference and extend the permitted construction period to five years.
- Elia’s first Modular Offshore Grid II phase must be available no later than 1 October 2031.
Belgium has approved a revised tender framework for the first offshore wind site connected through Elia’s Princess Elisabeth Island.
The first lot in the Princess Elisabeth Zone will provide approximately 700MW of generating capacity. An earlier procurement process was cancelled in July 2025 after uncertainty developed around state-aid approval, the support mechanism, offshore island construction, and associated onshore grid reinforcement.
Under the revised model, bidders will compete through a single two-sided Contract for Difference, with the lowest offered strike price forming the principal award criterion. The former ceiling on the strike price has been removed, allowing bids to reflect current financing, equipment, construction, and operating costs.
The permitted construction period will increase from four years to five, while mandatory citizen participation has been removed and replaced with an optional arrangement. Qualification rules will introduce binding requirements covering cybersecurity, sustainability, responsible business conduct, and supply-chain resilience.
At least 75% of the turbines must be manufactured and assembled outside China, with further restrictions applying to Chinese critical components and permanent magnets. The conditions introduce industrial and security considerations alongside price and technical capability.
Elia’s first phase of the Modular Offshore Grid II infrastructure must be available by 1 October 2031. The Belgian government intends to progress the wind tender and grid works in parallel, subject to Council of State review and European Commission state-aid clearance.
The Princess Elisabeth Zone contains three planned development areas with combined potential of up to 3.5GW. Following the initial approximately 700MW site, two later lots are each expected to accommodate around 1.4GW.
Tender design converges with grid delivery
Across Europe, offshore wind procurement is being reshaped by higher financing costs, constrained manufacturing capacity, longer equipment lead times, and more expensive marine construction. Tender structures designed around progressively lower strike prices have become increasingly difficult to reconcile with projects that must remain financeable through a long construction period.
A two-sided Contract for Difference can reduce exposure to wholesale-price volatility by providing payments when market revenue falls below the agreed level and recovering excess revenue when prices rise above it. Construction costs, grid delays, equipment availability, weather risk, and operating performance remain with the project.
Extending the permitted delivery period acknowledges the time required to secure turbines, foundations, array cables, offshore substations, export systems, and installation vessels. Longer schedules may improve deliverability, although they also expose projects to further changes in equipment markets, interest rates, and technical standards.
At Princess Elisabeth Island, construction of the caisson structure for the offshore grid hub has already begun. The revised tender now places a firm latest date on the first operational grid phase, tying the wind project’s revenue timetable more closely to the availability of its export route.
Commercial generation cannot begin until the complete electrical chain is ready. Turbines and array cables must connect through offshore substations, export circuits, island infrastructure, onshore landing points, substations, and the wider transmission system.
A delay at any interface can leave completed equipment unable to export or force changes to testing and commissioning. Coordinated milestone control will therefore be required between government, regulator, Elia, developers, civil contractors, equipment manufacturers, and marine installation teams.
Concentrating several circuits and future interconnection functions on one artificial island also increases the consequence of common-mode failures. Protection zones, redundancy, fire separation, black-start arrangements, cyber controls, maintenance access, and spare-parts strategy must reflect the amount of generation aggregated through the site.
The supply-chain qualification rules add another contractual layer. Developers will need evidence covering turbine origin, critical components, permanent magnets, cybersecurity, sustainability, and responsible conduct, with compliance preserved through manufacturing, assembly, installation, and future replacement.
Restricting part of the eligible supply chain may support European manufacturing and reduce strategic dependence, although it can also affect price and equipment availability. The final definitions covering origin, assembly, subcontracting, and documentary evidence will influence how readily bidders can secure compliant turbine packages.
Parallel development of grid and generation avoids waiting for one programme to finish before beginning the other, but it also requires each side to carry substantial expenditure before the complete system is operational. Clear remedies for delay, defined interface responsibilities, and realistic commissioning windows will be central to financeability.
The relaunched tender will test whether Belgium can combine revenue support, industrial policy, cybersecurity, and offshore network construction without reproducing the uncertainty that ended the previous process.
Project information and construction updates are available from Elia’s Princess Elisabeth Island portal.
