Ministerial visit from Poland to Port Oostende
On Friday and Saturday 11 and 12 September 2020, Minister Zbigniew Gryglas and a representation of the port of Gdynia, led by port director Adam Meller, paid a working visit to Port Oostende and to the REBO terminal.
The purpose of the visit was the exchange of experience between both ports regarding the development of the port infrastructure with a view to the installation of wind farms at sea. Poland and the port of Gdynia are currently preparing for the construction of 12 wind farms at sea, accounting for the production of 11 Gigawatts or 20% of the electricity supply in Poland.
Port of Gdynia
The port of Gdynia sees itself as having an important role to play in transforming the Polish economy into a low-carbon economy. The port is geographically closest to the future wind farms, the closest of which is at 97 km.
REBO heavy weight terminal
On Friday, the delegation visited the maritime infrastructure of Port Oostende. On Saturday, the delegation members were introduced to the special qualities of the REBO heavy weight terminal, where Siemens-Gamesa is currently active with a view to the construction of the Seamade wind farm.
Closer economic cooperation and exchange of experience between European ports is of great importance. Ports are becoming increasingly important multifunctional economic actors. In addition to the logistics component, energy generation, Blue Economy and Circular Industry are becoming increasingly important.
European framework
The working visit to Port Oostende is part of a broader working visit organised by the Offshore Wind Ports Platform of which Port Oostende is the chairman. A visit to the ports of Amsterdam-Ijmuiden and Oostende was combined with a consultation with various representatives of DG Energy, WindEurope and Hydrogen Europe.