The Princess Elisabeth Island
The Princess Elisabeth Island is an island off the Belgian North Sea coast that acts as an electricity hub: it bundles cables from the wind farms of Belgium's second offshore wind zone to bring the generated electricity ashore. The island will also act as a landing point for interconnectors between Belgium and other European countries. It is built by Elia, operator of Belgium's electricity transmission grid.
To build the island, Elia opted for a ‘nature-inclusive design’. This should promote biodiversity and help enrich the marine environment around the island. Measures are also being taken for the kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla): an EU contribution of €3.567 million has been allocated to the NID4BirdLIFE project, a project which allows kittiwakes to nest on breeding ridges installed on the island.
Listed as ‘threatened’ on the European Red List of birds, the kittiwake is currently in further decline, partly due to a lack of nesting facilities. The nesting ridges mimic natural cliffs and are being developed in collaboration with scientists specialised in nature restoration and marine life.
The project is being carried out by a consortium of partners consisting of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (KBIN), the Research Institute for Nature and Forest Flanders (INBO), Renewables Grid Initiative (RGI) and Elia.
Black-legged kittiwakes (photo Yves Adams - Vildaphoto)