PORTS & HARBOURS

Kriegers Flak driving expansion at Rønne

8 years ago

Major expansion is underway at the port of Rønne which is located on the island of Bornholm at the southern end of the Baltic, writes Dag Pike.

Graphic showing the first phase of the port development

This expansion is designed to provide access to larger cruise ships and to expand the space available for handling wind farm components, in particular for the Kriegers Flak OWF and the planned date for completion of these extensive works is mid 2019.

“This first phase will mean that we can attract new business areas relatively quickly, while ensuring that the port’s role as a central cruise port is established.” said Thomas Bendtsen, the CEO at Rønne Havn A/S. Work on this first phase of development includes building a new 1,100 metre long breakwater, developing a multi-purpose terminal with a 300 metre long berth and a heavy duty ro/ro facility. In addition, the water depth in the area will be dredged to 11 metres. “This means that from next year we will be able to accommodate very large cruise ships up to 350 metres in length.” said Bendtsen.

The port of Rønne has also been selected as the departure point for the 72 Siemens Gamsea 8MW turbines that are destined for the Kriegers Flak offshore wind farm and the port will undergo upgrades to service this project. As well as the above developments this will include a 150,000 square metre quay facility. According to Siemen’s Gamsea Project Manager Bent Rasmussen the port being located on an island is not an issue, since the components are too big for land transport and will be transported by sea. According to Rasmussen, the Denmark-based port will enable a reduction in the paperwork and will allow the turbine components to come close to the quayside, while the harbour entrance and exit are also in good condition.

“We have been focused on extensions of our port areas and aimed at the facilities being modern and able to handle as large an operation as the one Siemens Gamsea Renewable Energy is going to launch. I hope and believe that it will be the start of a lot of other good business projects in our port area,” commented Bendtsen.

The Kriegers Flak offshore wind farm, currently being built some 15km east of the Danish coast in the southern part of the Baltic Sea, is scheduled for full commissioning in 2021.