Belgium's Elia targets global growth with new offshore wind grids unit

Belgian network operator Elia Group is setting up an offshore wind grid subsidiary to enter new international markets.

Elia is already responsible for offshore wind links off Belgium in the North Sea, and off the Baltic Sea coast in Germany through its 50Hertz eastern German unit.

The new WindGrid subsidiary seeks to tap into Europe’s rapidly expanding offshore wind grid market and beyond.

“We see WindGrid as a reliable partner for governments that want to proactively build offshore grid infrastructure and renewable energy developers that are looking for solutions which will allow to securely connect and integrate their offshore energy projects to onshore electricity networks,” Elia Group chief executive Chris Peeters said.

“By maximising our experience and know-how and co-investing in international offshore grid infrastructure, WindGrid will make a fundamental contribution to accelerating the energy transition.”

The European Commission targets to quadruple Europe’s current offshore wind capacity to 60GW by 2030, and then to 300GW by 2050.

WindGrid will be led by Markus Laukamp, currently managing director at Steag New Energies. Laukamp previously also worked at Orsted predecessor Dong Energy.