Maasvlakte News

Dutch grid operator TenneT is preparing to begin horizontal directional drilling at Maasvlakte as part of efforts to connect three offshore wind farms to the onshore grid.Steel casing pipes have been installed at three beach work sites, allowing drilling beneath the beach and seabed to begin, weather permitting.The drilling will be carried out in three stages, starting with a pilot bore from the beach towards the sea, followed by widening of the borehole and the installation of…

ABB has signed contracts with Rotterdam Shore Power (RSP) to engineer and construct what is expected to be the world’s largest shore power system by capacity at the Port of Rotterdam.The system will provide over 100 megavolt-amperes (MVA) of shore power capacity and is set to begin operations in the second half of 2028, serving three deep-sea container terminals.The installations aim to reduce emissions, support compliance with the EU’s FuelEU Maritime Regulation, and improve air quality in Europe’s busiest port.The project…

The North Sea Boulevard and Maasvlakte Boulevard are reopened to traffic as TenneT's cables for connecting two offshore wind farms are now buried in the seabed along the road. The high-voltage cables for the future IJmuiden Ver Beta and IJmuiden Ver Gamma offshore wind farms have been installed by contractor NRG.In a few years, the green energy from the offshore wind farms will arrive onshore via cables buried in the seabed near Maasvlakte and will then be distributed to industry…

Maritime operations run on tight schedules and thin margins, and as ships, terminals and supply chains connect systems for visibility and efficiency, attackers gain paths to entry. Cyber risk has become an operational reliability and safety concern, not just an IT issue. “Whether we are looking at this challenge through an operational or organizational safety lens, cyber risk is a critical business risk. An incident will impact everyone,” says Michael DeVolld, Senior Director…

Dutch offshore installation firm Van Oord has been awarded the prestigious Jan Agema Award 2025 for its contribution to the offshore wind project Borssele III, IV and V.The jury praised the project for its technical innovation, societal relevance, and future-proof design, highlighting it as a powerful response to the urgent energy transition in the North Sea.The Jan Agema Award, established by the Dutch Association of Hydraulic Engineers in honor of Jan Agema, encourages innovation…

In the coming years, grid operator TenneT will bring wind energy from the sea to land on the Maasvlakte. To enable the landing of these electricity cables, contractor NRG started six drillings under the dunes May 26. Three more will follow after the summer. In recent days, NRG has made the necessary preparations both inside the dike and on the beach. The electric drill is making a horizontally directional drilling over a distance of approximately 200 meters towards the beach.

An ammonia bunkering pilot has been undertaken between two vessels at a terminal in the port of Rotterdam.The pilot, conducted on April 12, involved transferring 800 cubic meters of liquid, cold ammonia at -33 degrees Celsius between two ships. This took about 2.5 hours and was conducted alongside a new quay at the Maasvlakte 2 APM terminal.Various parties collaborated on the pilot, facilitated by the Port of Rotterdam Authority. OCI, owner and operator of the port’s ammonia terminal…

APM Terminals has awarded civil works and electrification contract for Maasvlakte II container terminal expansion in Rotterdam to CareGo, a consortium of ABB, Dura Vermeer and GMB.The expansion will cover a 51-hectare container yard, which will double the capacity of the terminal, making it one of the most advanced fully automated terminals in the world.The 51 hectares will consist of 31 additional yard blocks, quay area, truck and rail areas, and associated infrastructure.The Rotterdam Port Authority has already constructed 1,000 meters of new deep-sea quay for the expansion of the facility.

Dutch firm KOTUG has received an order from Rotterdam-based sand handling and transport specialist, ROS, for the delivery of a fully electric pusher tug, the E-Pusher.The E-Pusher, model M, will be deployed in combination with barges provided by Jansma Shipping to establish an emission-free sand transport chain between the Maasvlakte and Rotterdam.The fully electric E-Pusher, developed by KOTUG, is scheduled for completion in May 2025.The entire emission-free system - from transshipment…

Van Oord’s cutter suction dredger Biesbosch and trailing suction hopper dredger Vox Apolonia are teaming up to dredge the Prinses Amaliahaven located on Maasvlakte in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.A consortium of Van Oord, HOCHTIEF and Ballast Nedam has constructed 2.4 kilometres of new quay wall. The new quays are being dredged to a depth of more than 20 metres below sea level. This development means that the Port of Rotterdam Authority is ensuring an expansion of container capacity in Rotterdam.In total 1…

Dutch manufacturer Huisman has entered the port and logistics market with the order for series of automated stacking cranes (ACSs) from Hutchison Ports ECT Rotterdam (ECT).The ACSs will serve for the efficient handling and buffering of containers. The cranes feature a fully automated process for handling and buffering containers, providing a solution for enhanced operational efficiency, required for 24/7 operational time.The diversification in port automation underscores Huisman's…

A.P. Moller - Maersk's container terminal operating arm APM Terminals announced the expansion of its Maasvlakte II terminal in Rotterdam, increasing the terminal's capacity by approx. 2 million TEU The project involves a site of approximately 47.5 hectares with 1,000 meters of deep-sea quay. The Port of Rotterdam Authority is now constructing the new quay walls, which will be completed by mid-2024. The new section is expected to be operational in the second half of 2026.APM Terminals opened at Maasvlakte II in 2015 as a fully automated facility with zero carbon emissions.

Australian oil and gas company Woodside Energy said Monday it had delivered an LNG cargo to Europe on board the Woodside Rees Withers LNG carrier from Australia’s North West Shelf. The cargo of approximately 75,000 tonnes of LNG (100 million cubic meters of natural gas) was delivered on November 27, 2022, to Uniper Global Commodities SE (Uniper) at the Gate Terminal located on Maasvlakte in Rotterdam, the Netherladns. Woodside said the cargo would contribute to natural gas supply in Northwest and Central Europe. Woodside Executive Vice President Marketing & Trading Mark Abbotsford said the company was "pleased to have concluded the trade…

The Port of Rotterdam has blazed a path for ports globally in terms of automation, digitalization and decarbonization. As he enters the final year of his tenure, Allard Castelein, CEO, Port of Rotterdam, says there is still much work to do.While many global organizations are adept at ‘talking the talk’, the Port of Rotterdam stands out as ‘walking the walk’ in regards to real investment and innovation in robotics, digitalization and infrastructure improvements to facilitate the efficient, effective transfer of ship’s cargo for distribution globally.

The volume of total cargo throughput in the port of Rotterdam was 0.8% higher in the first half of the year (233.5 million tonnes) than in the same period in 2021 (231.6 million tonnes). In many segments, the war in Ukraine led to significant changes. For example, imports of both LNG and coal rose very sharply as an alternative to reduced European imports of Russian gas by pipeline. The throughput of crude oil increased, with oil products falling off. Throughput of iron ore, agricultural…

Shell has made the final investment decision for Holland Hydrogen I, which, when completed in 2025, will be Europe's largest renewable hydrogen plant. The plant will be powered by electricity produced from an offshore wind farm in the Dutch section of the North Sea.Shell said Wednesday that the200MW electrolyser would be built on the Tweede Maasvlakte in the port of Rotterdam and will produce up to 60,000 kilograms of renewable hydrogen per day.The renewable  power for the electrolyser will come from the offshore wind farm  Hollandse Kust (noord)…

Dutch marine services company Boskalis has delivered the Hollandse Kust Zuid Beta substation topside to Tennet in the Netherlands after a long journey from Dubai, where it was built.This is the second High Voltage Alternating Current (HVAC) offshore transformer station topside, built by Petrofac and Drydocks World Dubai for the Dutch-German transmission grid operator TenneT.The 700 MW Beta topside weighs 3,950 tonnes. It was shipped to the Dutch North Sea aboard Boskalis' Mighty Servant 3 heavy lift and transportation vessel.

TenneT's investigation has shown that there is no major damage to the HKZ Beta jacket in the Dutch North Sea which was hit by a drifting bulk carrier in a storm in January. This means that the 3,950t topside can be installed on the jacket as planned, forming part of the Hollandse Kust Zuid (HKZ) grid connection that connects the offshore wind farm zone to the Dutch mainland at the Maasvlakte. The wind farm is being built by Vattenfall. The incidentOn Monday, January 31, the freighter Julietta D.

The second High Voltage Alternating Current (HVAC) offshore transformer station topside, delivered by Petrofac and Drydocks World Dubai for the Dutch-German transmission grid operator TenneT, has set sail from the fabrication facility in the UAE, Petrofac said Monday.The 700 MW Beta topside weighs 3,950-tonne. It is being shipped to the Dutch North Sea aboard Boskalis' Mighty Servant 3 heavy lift and transportation vessel. The topside will form part of the Hollandse Kust Zuid (HKZ) grid connection that connects the offshore wind farm zone to the Dutch mainland at the Maasvlakte.

The intermodal service provider European Gateway Services (EGS) offers network of connections between all deepsea terminals Maasvlakte Rotterdam with Nuremberg in Netharlands.The Rotterdam - Nuremberg rail shuttle is now already calling at all the deepsea terminals at the Maasvlakte (1 and 2).Three times a week, EGS provides a rail connection between Rotterdam and Nuremberg in the state of Bavaria and vice versa. In view of the success of this connection and an increase in the number of requests, RWG will also be directly served as of the 1st of February.By doing so, EGS is responding to the wishes of shippers, forwarders and shipping companies…

The 1.3 Million cbm HES Hartel Tank Terminal, a project of HES International, has been completed on schedule.The HHTT Consortium, comprising Van Hattum and Blankevoort (Koninklijke VolkerWessels), Mobilis (TBI) and Boskalis Nederland, has handed over the construction site to its client, the Port of Rotterdam Authority. This contract involved a total amount of over EUR 100 million.The HHTT Consortium started constructing this challenging project on Maasvlakte in December 2017.The project comprises the construction of a 1,200-metre-long deep-sea quay wall and the connection of the new quay to the existing quay, a quay wall over a length of 1,000 metres for five inland vessels, complete with shore power, and a 350-metre jetty with four berths.

The world’s largest wind turbine, Haliade-X, is being tested on Maasvlakte at Port of Rotterdam. This ‘test rig’ was realised via innovative cross-pollination between the American GE Renewable Energy, Sif Netherlands and Pondera Consult.Huge 107-meter-long blades have recently started rotating on Maasvlakte. These are part of the Haliade-X12 MW, the world’s most powerful wind turbine.It is 260 meters high and has a 12-megawatt capacity, sufficient to generate energy to supply electricity to some 16,000 households in the region. As comparison: the wind turbine next to Van Brienenoordbrug has a maximum 3-megawatt capacity.Sif Netherlands is building the foundations for offshore wind farms on the 62-hectare site on Pieter van Vollenhovenweg.

GE Renewable Energy has generated first power from its 12MW Haliade-X prototype - the world's largest and most powerful wind turbine - located at Maasvlakte, the Port of Rotterdam.According to GE, local teams will now proceed with the testing phase, during which different types of measurements will be performed to obtain a Type Certificate for the Haliade-X in 2020.John Lavelle, CEO of Offshore Wind at GE Renewable Energy, said “This first kWh is a critical achievement for our whole team, bringing to fruition our vision and all the hard work put in place. Innovation is part of GE’s DNA, and having successfully powered the world’s first 12 MW wind turbine, this illustrates it perfectly.