Yesterday June 7, the Eemshaven existed 50 years. HHWE member Groningen Seaports calabrated this yesterday with customers, partners and other stakeholders at the AG Ems site in Eemshaven. More than 150 visitors came together to reflect on the anniversary of Eemshaven.

The festive afternoon was led by presenter Sofie van den Enk. Together with deputy mayor Eltjo Dijkhuis of the municipality of Het Hogeland and Groningen Seaports’ CEO Cas König, she opened this special meeting. König said he was delighted to be able to experience this anniversary as CEO of Groningen Seaports: ‘𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘌𝘦𝘮𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯, 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘵𝘺 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘻𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘶𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘺 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘺 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘌𝘦𝘮𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯; 𝘌𝘦𝘮𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘺 𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘞𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯 𝘌𝘶𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦. 𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴’.

Offshore wind & data

According to König, one of the most important developments of recent years is in the field of offshore wind. The 21st offshore wind farm is currently being constructed from Eemshaven. “In addition to the terminals in this sector, offshore wind also offers a lot of indirect activity. For example, more than 50 companies are involved in the construction of various offshore wind farms“. In addition to offshore wind, data is also an important development that cannot be ignored these days. “Eemshaven is of course a very suitable location for data centers and this proposition also generates an enormous amount of employment. For example, Google and QTS involve many different types of companies from the Groningen region,” says König.

Don’t stand still

Rob Jetten, Minister for Climate and Energy, was unable to attend the meeting in Eemshaven. He did, however, send a video message to congratulate Eemshaven on this wonderful anniversary: ‘Eemshaven has certainly not stood still since 1973. Once designed to process and transport fossil fuels, it has grown into a hub of energy. And that experience and expertise came in handy when the energy crisis erupted last year. We wanted to quickly reduce our dependence on Russian natural gas and the construction of an LNG terminal in Eemshaven was crucial in this respect.’

A sustainable future

However, it is not the only LNG terminal that is important, because about a third of the energy produced in the Netherlands comes from the Eemshaven. ‘And the role of the port in the energy supply of the Netherlands is therefore extremely important. And it will remain so in the future. For example, due to the landing of offshore wind and the growing prospect of green hydrogen for making the industry more sustainable and accelerating the energy transition. That also offers opportunities. Opportunities for Groninge, for the north and for the Netherlands as a whole. We are taking important steps, whereby renewable energy, such as green hydrogen, continues to flow thorugh Eemshaven towards a sustainable future,’ says Jetten.

Persevere

Ijzebrand Rijzebol, deputy of the province of Groningen and chairman of the Joint Regulations for the Port Authority of Groningen Seaports, indicated in his speech that the story of Eemshaven is for the story of ‘perseverance wins’. “Together with the city of Groningen, Eemshaven is now the job engine in our region. An engine with a lot of potential, moreover. It is also the story of working together, because that green future is partly possible because Eemshaven is joining forces with the chemical cluster in Delfzijl. And Governments and companies know how to find each other.”

Ignite hydrogen flame

Cas König and Ranomi Kromowidjojo (Chef de Emission of MissieH2, of which Groningen Seaports is partner) had the honor of igniting the hydrogen flame. This hydrogen flame had come to Eemshaven especially for this occasion. With the ignition of the hydrogen flame, the anniversary of the Eemshaven was officially confirmed.

Finally, those present were give a tour of the Eemshaven on the MS Münsterland of AG Ems during which Cas König gave the visitors an explanation of the developments in the port in recent years.

SOURCE: Groningen-seaports.com