The Minister Kamp of Economic Affairs in late October announced that cable connection will be realised by grid manager TenneT between wind farm ‘Hollandse Kust (south)’ and the Maasvlakte. This will soon allow the electricity generated by the wind farms to be brought ashore. The choice for the port of Rotterdam area confirms the important role of the port in the Dutch energy infrastructure.
Sustainable electricity will become increasingly important for the Port of Rotterdam in the coming decades, on the one hand as a substitute for fossil fuels in production processes and on the other hand as a replacement for fossil fuels. Thanks to the connection between wind farm Hollandse Kust (south) and the Maasvlakte, this sustainable electricity will be transported to the national high-voltage grid via Rotterdam.
This connection will contribute to achieving the objectives for wind energy in the North Sea as agreed in the National Energy Agreement, namely the aim to realise 3,450 MW of additional wind energy at sea by 2023.
For businesses in the port, the large-scale generation of wind energy offers opportunities for new revenue models in the long term: in case of a surplus of wind energy, for instance, the price will be low making it attractive to convert electricity into hot water or fuels for transport (such as power-2-gas or power to liquids). The production thereof may vary depending on the price of electricity. The announced TenneT cable between the wind farm and the Maasvlakte will contribute to a positive investment climate for this kind of new activities.
Source & Image credit: Port of Rotterdam
