AYOP MEMBER VAN OORD STARTS REMOVING DREDGING SLUDGE FROM AVERIJ PORT DEPOT
Contractor Van Oord is starting the preparations to remove dredging sludge from the Averij port on behalf of the Dutch government next week. It marks the first step to the continued transformation to the Energy Port, a development by a consortium comprising the Province of North Holland and premium AYOP members Velsen Municipality, Port of Amsterdam and Port of IJmuiden NV. The preparations are expected to be concluded in May 2022.
VAN OORD GETS TO WORK
The start of the activities consists of supplying materials and setting up the building site. A cutter suction dredger will be lifted into the depot in August. This piece of equipment uses a rotating cutter head that loosens and sucks up the soil. The dredging sludge will then be transferred via a pressure pipeline to a vessel for transportation to the national De Slufter depot in Rotterdam.
ENERGY PORT FOR OFFSHORE WIND
After the dredging sludge is removed, the site of the Averij port will be handed over to the Province of North Holland, Velsen Municipality and Port of Amsterdam and Port of IJmuiden NV. The consortium will develop this area and an adjacent lot from Tata Steel into the Energy Port, focused on offshore wind activities. The Energy Port has a strategic location due to its position on the sea-side of the North Sea Canal, outside the IJmuiden sea locks. It will become an important base of operations for the installation and maintenance of future wind farms on the North Sea.
NORTH SEA CANAL REGION: DUTCH HUB FOR WIND AT SEA
The Amsterdam IJmuiden region already played a role in the construction of the Noordzeewind, Princes Amalia, Luchterduinen wind farms and the wind farms on the IJsselmeer Westermeerwind and Windpark Fryslân. Construction of the farms is supported from the region by various AYOP members while construction of Hollandse Kust Zuid has just started. The maintenance base for the latter farm is located in IJmuiden. AYOP also expects to play a role in the construction and maintenance of Hollandse Kust Noord and the realisation of the electricity infrastructure.
The Energy Port will facilitate the growth of the number of wind farms at sea and provide space for increasingly large turbines. The realisation of the port will also strengthen the position of the North Sea Canal region as the Dutch hub for wind at sea.
ROLE FOR AYOP AND ITS MEMBERS
The development of the Energy Port involves a partnership between the parties in the consortium, the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, and Tata Steel. The Amsterdam IJmuiden Offshore Ports (AYOP) association has been involved in these developments as a co-initiator since 2012.
Source header photo: Van Oord
