North Sea quay area strengthened for heavier offshore wind component loading

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Buss Terminal Eemshaven and Groningen Seaports have initiated the WINdQUAY infrastructure upgrade project.

This will strengthen load-bearing capacities of parts of the quay area to service heavy-duty offshore wind installation vessels at Eemshaven's Buss Terminal on the Dutch North Sea coast.

The investment has funding support from the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA).

Under the development, the quay area will be reinforced to withstand a load bearing capacity of 40 t/sq m, and the soil conditions modified to sustain significant loads of wind turbine components and installation vessels during load-in/load-out operations.

UK invests $71M in Scottish port expansion

The UK government has awarded more than £55 million (US$71.1 million) to Port of Cromarty Firth in a boost to secure critical facilities needed for the development of new floating offshore wind farms and ensure they are built from the UK, according to a March 5 news release.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero confirmed the Floating Offshore Wind Manufacturing Investment Scheme (FLOWMIS) funding for the Invergordon-based Trust Port’s Phase 5 expansion, which aims to establish the UK’s first custom-built integration hub for floating offshore windfarm construction.

Port of Cromarty Firth aims to secure match-funding from banks and/or other investors, and to award a pre-construction contract to start work on Phase 5, which must be completed in 2027 to be ready for the first commercial-scale floating wind projects.

The expansion project is expected to create 170 to 320 jobs in the construction phase. When complete, it will provide the larger facilities needed for the construction, installation and operational support to offshore and floating offshore wind.