Amsterdam IJmuiden Offshore Ports (AYOP), North Sea Energy Gateway (NSEG), the Province of North Holland, Development Agency NHN and the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) organised a webinar ‘Noord-Holland, your ideal basis for offshore wind’ on 11 March 2022. With the Dutch government deciding to realise 27.5 GW more wind energy off the North Sea coast by 2030, the region faces major opportunities and challenges. The pressure on the gas pipeline from Russia is further enhancing the necessity for alternative types of energy, including wind at sea.
The expansion of the capacity of existing wind farms and the realisation of new wind farms in the North Sea, such as in the Hollandse Kust Zuid, Hollandse Kust Noord and Hollandse Kust West sites, is creating opportunities for all companies in the supply chain. These range from hydraulic engineering firms to cable suppliers and companies specialised in crew transfer and turbine maintenance to port terminals for the maintenance, storage and transhipment of blades, turbines and other components. To meet the related demand for (technical) staff, education and research institutes are working closely together with the province, municipalities, suppliers and wind farm developers. New (international) businesses that can contribute to the energy transition are being stimulated to settle in the region by its favourable business climate.
All these aspects can only come to fruition with close cooperation. The ports of Amsterdam, IJmuiden and Den Helder along with Den Helder Airport have expressed their intention to jointly provide the best possible support for the North Sea’s future wind farms.
The Province of Noord-Holland facilitates companies in the transition to a sustainable, healthy and innovative sector says provincial executive Zita Pels: “Our businesses are a crucial link in the energy transition while, at the same time, the transition prepares them for the future. As a province we are dedicated to creating a favourable business climate in Noord-Holland. Instruments ranging from subsidies and knowledge sharing to participation and investments are helping seaports and companies in North Holland obtain a leading position within the energy transition in the Netherlands and Europe. The seaports and airports in our province are in an excellent position to deliver an important contribution to the energy transition. A good cooperation is paramount in this respect”.
Sylvia Boer, director of AYOP, agrees. “This region has a complete ecosystem for the offshore wind sector with everything one could need within a radius of 70 kilometres. The three ports of North Holland (Amsterdam, IJmuiden and Den Helder) have a potential investment capacity of some three billion euros. And with the upscaling to approximately 21 GW by 2030, this figure will only increase. Thankfully, the Amsterdam-IJmuiden region has plenty of space, especially with the opening of the new Energy Port.”
Ruud de Bruijne , Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO): “This region has a complete ecosystem for the offshore wind sector with everything one could need within a radius of 70 kilometres. The three ports of North Holland (Amsterdam, IJmuiden and Den Helder) have a potential investment capacity of some three billion euros. And with the upscaling to approximately 21 GW by 2030, this figure will only increase. Thankfully, the Amsterdam-IJmuiden region has plenty of space, especially with the opening of the new Energy Port.”
Pim Visser, quartermaster of NSEG: “With its port, airport and a technical campus rooted in the regional industry, Den Helder is perfectly positioned as a true ‘pitstop port’ over water and by air. Especially now as the ongoing search for suitable areas in the North Sea leads to locations further north.”
Giles Dickson, WindEurope:
“For Europe to reach its climate and energy security goals we need to speed up the deployment of offshore wind. The Netherlands is taking important steps with the announcement that an extra 10 GW will be installed in the coming years. It’s great to see that the Netherlands are developing the infrastructure they will need in coastal and port areas in order to support the installation of all these windfarms.”
Click on the link below to watch the webinar.
