Elia pauses HVDC contract signing for Princess Elisabeth Island

Elia has put on hold the signing of HVDC contracts for Princess Elisabeth Island, citing a need to evaluate multiple options alongside the Belgian government in what it describes as a changing market context. The announcement, dated 4 February 2025, gives no revised signing date.

The island is the backbone of Belgium's offshore expansion strategy, designed to act as a central hub connecting future North Sea wind capacity to the onshore grid. HVDC links to the island are critical path items: delays in contracting push back both energisation dates and the timeline for associated cross-border interconnection capacity.

The move comes against a backdrop of broader Belgian energy-policy uncertainty. Elia's own 2024–2034 adequacy and flexibility study flagged tightening capacity margins through the late 2020s, making the island's eventual commissioning timeline a live adequacy variable. Market participants with exposure to Belgian capacity contracts or cross-border flow assumptions should treat the procurement pause as a schedule risk until Elia publishes a revised decision.