b'giant Vattenfall announced in July plansBalancing Fossil Fuels and toretrofitagas-fueledpowerplantinRenewablesnorthern Netherlands to use hydrogen by 2023.) The country known for its quaint wind-Weembraceitall,saidJoostEen- millsisintheforefrontofmodern-day huizen, business manager maritime andwindenergy,withonshorewindbeing offshore industry at the Port of Rotterdamincreasinglyaugmentedandsupplant-Authority. ed by wind generated on the North Sea. TheNetherlandspredictsitcouldpro-Providing logistical support for a shift toduce 11.5GW of offshore wind energy by renewable energy underscores a growing2030. That equals about 37% of current national ethos in Netherlands. It also iselectricity needs. Some 10% of the North proving to be increasingly good businessSea is scheduled to be an energy produc-for the country and its ports. We are attion area by this time. the eve of a big new industry, and a big change, said Femke Brenninkmeijer, theThis focus on wind and other renew-Port of Amsterdams commercial director,able energy sources is indicative of efforts who heads the energy, cargo and offshoreby Dutch ports to better incorporate sus- [image 3.6-2]department. One thing for sure, it willtainabilityintotheiroperatingmindset,Windmill specificsdemand a lot of space from the ports. andtheirmarketingfocus.Wewould like to facilitate and catalyze as much as This is true for the major ports of Rotter- possible the move to a more sustainable dam and Amsterdam, as well as some ofworld, said Eenhuizen.the countrys smaller ports. Most notable is the far northern port of Eemshaven, theThisexperienceisusefulforportsin Netherlandsbiggestwind-relatedport,other countries grappling with similar is-and one of the major entrepts for the off- sues.shore wind industry in the world. In ad- Itsahardbalancingact. TheDutch dition to staging of new wind farms andpopulace increasingly demands a greener maintenance of existing ones, Eemshav- future and the ports are eager to demon-en has emerged as a prominent landingstrate they can embrace environmentally port for international power, with con- progressive policies. verting stations for transmission of elec-tricity. It hosts power plants as well. But thats not an easy task, necessarily. Eemshaven lives and breathes offshorePortsrepresentoneoftheNetherlands wind, the port proclaims in a marketingmost important economic centers. They brochure. arentjusttransportationandlogistics hubs. Heavy industrial zones lie within To a far more modest degree, the coun- their borders. trys newest port, Flevokust, is targetingFor many Dutch, the ports continue to windfarmsaswell.Ithasjustsignedembody a greenhouse-gas emitting, fos-an agreement with a yet-unnamed windsil-fuel dependence, with their high-pro-farm operator for use of the port as a stag- file depots, crackers, tanks and pipelines. ing area. Two of ten power plants on the Rotterdam port premises are still coal-fired.2019 Collection Project / Energy Shipping 53'