Buss Terminal Eemshaven is usually all about parts coming and going for offshore wind turbines, and the terminal bustles with activity. The installation of the Kaskasi wind farm’s foundation piles and connectors was recently completed, and now the 26.5-hectare site seems deserted. But that is not because the work is finished: quite the contrary. The entire site has been ‘swept clean’ as virtually all the square metres are needed for the next offshore wind farm, which is already on the horizon. In fact, Buss Terminal Eemshaven will be handling the logistics of the above-water part (tower poles, rotor blades, nacelles) of wind farm Hollandse Kust Noord, located some 18 kilometres off the coast, off Egmond aan Zee. Construction of the underwater part of this wind farm recently began, and wind farm owner CrossWind is applying several innovations, such as hydrogen production at sea and floating solar panels.

In the next few months, the above-water parts of the Siemens wind turbines will be shipped to Eemshaven for further transport to the wind farm under construction. This marks Eemshaven’s 19th wind farm. The farm will consist of 69 wind turbines, each with a capacity of 11 MW. The shaft height of the tower poles is over 125 metres, and the rotor blade is almost 100 metres. Understandably, such dimensions require a lot of storage and transhipment space. That is one of the reasons why the company purchased an additional four hectares of land across the road at Beatrixhaven earlier this year. The facilities on the site itself have also been expanded. Electricity connections have been made on the quay to reduce the use of diesel generators and engines as much as possible. A fibre-optic network has also been installed for better communication facilities. Buss Terminal Eemshaven is also working hard on building a new head office at the site. This is needed to continue guiding all activities from a sound base.

Buss Terminal Eemshaven’s site at Julianahaven, where soon handling work starts for the next wind farm Hollandse Kust Noord  (Photo Groningen Seaports)