Elia Group, Belgium’s transmission system operator, revealed its plans for building what will be the world’s first artificial energy island. The Princess Elisabeth Island will be located almost 45 kilometers off the Belgian coast and will serve as the link between offshore wind farms in the North Sea and Elias’s onshore high-voltage grid. The energy island will also be the first building block of a European offshore electricity grid that will serve as a central hub for new inter-connectors with the UK and Denmark. The Princess Elisabeth Zone, the Belgian part of the North Sea, represents a strategic location for such a project as the North Sea itself is an area rich in wind resources. Vattenfall, a Swedish power company,…