4 minute read
Looking further
WITH AN OFFSHORE TERMINAL IN THE NORTH AND SOUTH OF THE NETHERLANDS, BOW TERMINAL IS EXCELLENTLY POSITIONED FOR EXISTING AND FUTURE OFFSHORE WINDFARMS. THIS YIELDS ample opportunities for the storage, handling, and shipment of turbine components. Apart from this, it can also offer storage and maintenance space for the operators’ offshore wind O&M.
ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF BOW TERMINAL, UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE.
BOW’s new terminal in Eemshaven (Groningen Seaports) is almost ready now and will soon be fully operational.
Yet with the current market situation, everything has changed, and BOW Terminal’s Managing Director Ludolf Reijntjes admits that doing business today is hard. “With the COVID-19 measures, it is difficult to get in touch with customers and prospects”, he says. “A lot of people are working at home, and those working at the office are often not allowed to meet other people. Face-to-face communication is very important in our industry, as we are used to meeting our customers and prospects on location or at various events. Now that this is not the case, and running projects are about to end, business is at a low ebb.”
Decom project Mr Reijntjes continues, “Nevertheless, we have a lot of activities at our terminals. Our new terminal in Eemshaven (Groningen Seaports) is almost ready now and will soon be fully operational. We even had our first project at the terminal when we provided logistic services for a decom project.” With the Eemshaven terminal, BOW is aiming for the planned German offshore wind projects. “We decided to settle down at Groningen
With the Eemshaven terminal, BOW is aiming for the planned German offshore wind projects.
Seaports with the longer term in mind. Many large-scale offshore wind projects in Germany will soon begin and our Eemshaven terminal is perfectly located for supporting these upcoming projects. Also, we see ample opportunities for decommissioning projects, as there is currently a lack of suitable facilities in this region.”
Level playing field BOW operates its Vlissingen terminal at North Sea Port. The largest part of the terrain is presently in use as marshalling yard for the MHI Vestas’ Borssele 3&4 offshore wind project. “In the past few years, our Vlissingen terminal has been in use for a number of offshore wind projects in the southern part of the North Sea”, Mr Reintjes explains. “The Borssele 3&4 project will come to an end in Q4 of this year, so our terminal will soon be available for new projects. One of the challenges in this matter are the UK’s local content agreements that make it difficult for non-UK companies to compete, regardless of skills and competences. UK government is heavily >>
Image courtesy of German Offshore Wind Energy Foundation.
Alongside the quay in Vlissingen, TPs for the Yunlin offshore windfarm were loaded from the barges onto heavy lift vessels for further transport to Taiwan.
supporting the offshore wind industry and I think with Brexit approaching, the opportunities in the UK for non-UK companies will be worse. But the southern North Sea area, with Dutch, Belgian, French, and other planned windfarms, still has lots of potential.”
Yunlin windfarm Recent activities at the terminal of BOW in Vlissingen are proof of the company’s services reaching further than the North Sea project. “We recently provided services for the Taiwanese Yunlin offshore windfarm”, Mr Reijntjes says. He elaborates, “For Smulders and Manora, we provided quay and mooring facilities for barges and heavy lift vessels. Transition Pieces (TPs) constructed at Smulders’ yard in Hoboken (Port of Antwerp) were transported by barge to our terminal. Alongside our quay, the TPs were loaded from the barges onto heavy lift vessels for further transport to Taiwan. Although the HL vessels could take care of loading the TPs themselves, we provided logistic services and took care of the supervision of onshore activities.”
Obvious reasons The reasons why Smulders decided to transport the TPs by barge from Antwerp to Vlissingen, instead of shipping them directly by HL vessels, are obvious, according to Mr Reijntjes. “First of all, the transport of the TPs by HL vessels from Antwerp would be too complex and time-consuming because of the various locks in the river Scheldt. This would take at least an extra one and a half days. Furthermore, no quay was available in Antwerp for the longer periods necessary for preparative works. The grillages used for storing the TPs on board of the HL vessels were transported from the factory in China to BOW Terminal. Here, they were seafastened on the HL vessels’ decks. With a total of four shipments, this in some occasions took up to ten days.” Emerging markets With Asia and the US as emerging offshore wind markets, Mr Reijntjes sees abundant opportunities for European companies involved in the industry. “Asian countries and the US still need European skills and know-how for the construction of offshore windfarms. Of course, this will not last forever, as they learn fast and will sooner or later be able to do the job all by themselves. Until then, it is good for us not only to focus on Europe, but to look further to fully profit from the potential of the construction of offshore windfarms.”
