IJmuiden energy harbour
New base of operations for construction and maintenance of offshore wind farms
IJmuiden energy harbour
At the start of 2024, the Port of Amsterdam awarded a tender to Witteveen+Bos to provide engineering services for a planned energy harbour in Velsen-Noord. The harbour will play an important role in the Dutch energy transition. To accommodate the large ships required for the installation and maintenance of offshore wind farms, very specific harbour infrastructure is needed. This infrastructure is currently insufficient. The location of the planned energy harbour in Velsen-Noord will make it an important base of operations for these installation and maintenance activities.
The energy harbour will be constructed at the Averijhaven site, which currently houses a depot for contaminated sludge and is located just outside the IJmuiden lock complex. Situated on the sea side of the North Sea Canal, the harbour will be affected by external influences including wind, tides and waves. Its design will have to take these into consideration.
The extremely heavy wind turbine components that need to be transloaded at the harbour pose another interesting design challenge, while the ground beneath the site, which partly consists of steel slag from the nearby Tata Steel premises, requires extensive investigation and will demand specific methods of works execution.
The planned terminal will have a surface area of 15 hectares and feature a 580 metre-long deep-sea quay, with the harbour expected to be operational in 2028.
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