The Dutch national identity incorporates a strong maritime vocation. Having sailed the world as conquerors and merchants, theirs is a passionate and profitable relationship with the sea.
Echoing both their maritime history and mercantile heritage, the Dutch have excelled at selling not just their gas, oil, and derivatives globally, but also their technology and skills.
Hans de Boer, Managing Director of IRO, the Association of Dutch Suppliers in the Oil and Gas Industry, says: “The Dutch are successfully selling equipment, as well as designing, constructing and operating offshore equipment for the wider value chain. IRO has a strong focus on exporting our expertise to global markets.” Their industry expertise and a vantage location have made Dutch firms global leaders in oil and chemical refining and underground gas storage.
In July this year, Transport and Offshore Services (T.O.S) and Sheffield Offshore Services joined forces to broaden their range of construction crew for the offshore oil and gas industry. Their Singapore facility allows the joint venture to provide clients high-quality service and access to a full range of crew at a favourable price. In August, Tideway completed the Deep Panuke Gas Development Project near Canada. Entailing a turnover of €10 million (Dh49.15 million), the project saw the launch of Tideway’s new Inclined Fallpipe System (IFPS), which provides for accurate operations in the most demanding conditions.
Industry platforms
Meanwhile, unique initiatives such as the Global Gas Network Initiative (GGNI), and the Energy Delta Institute (EDI) address industry problems such as efficient technology transfer, and the Netherlands’ ageing workforce. The GGNI, created by Gasunie, promotes handover of knowledge from retired but proactive professionals to the next generation of operators, and to developing overseas gas markets.
Founded in 2003, EDI helps transfer local expertise to international businesses and attract new recruits. Taqa, the Abu Dhabi National Energy Company, became EDI’s latest strategic partner last month, and will exchange knowledge and expertise within the natural gas industry. Taqa’s Managing Director for the Netherlands, Jan Willem van Hoogstraten, says the company chose the Netherlands as its global centre of excellence for natural gas storage and transmission operations, and is developing
it as a regional hub.
“Taqa’s Bergermeer
Gas Storage project is a concrete example of our commitment to this endeavour.
In addition to creating more than 2,600 man-years of employment, its vast storage capacity will cement the Netherlands’ role as the gas hub for Northwest Europe,” he says. Taqa also spearheaded the establishment of Gas Storage Netherlands at The Hague last month, a body that will enhance dialogue between the Dutch government, the Netherlands Competition Authority, and other institutions in the field.
Gateway to Europe
As Dutch gas fields get depleted, regional connectivity has become more important, especially as Russian gas finds its way to Europe via new pipeline projects such as Nord Stream. The Dutch government and companies such as NAM, Gasunie, Royal Vopak and Taqa Energy B.V. are investing in pipelines, liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals, and gas storage projects, in a bid to secure the supply of gas to the country and continent, and place the Netherlands at the heart of Europe’s energy strategy.
Queen Beatrix recently inaugurated the country’s first import terminal for LNG on the Maasvlakte in Rotterdam. The Gate (Gas Access to Europe) will serve as an independent distribution point for European energy companies to address north-western Europe’s rising demand of natural gas.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation, Maxime Verhagen, explains Gate’s critical role. “Gas has changed from a local energy source into a global commodity. More countries are linking into a worldwide gas web where the Netherlands as home to Gate can play a pivotal role. Gate marks a crucial next step in the development of the Netherlands as the gas hub of north-west Europe.”
The Netherlands already plays an important role: 15 to 20 per cent of the 450 billion m3 gas consumed annually in the European Union is produced in the Netherlands.
And even though the nation will have to import gas sometime in the future, the Gas Roundabout concept was established to secure future supply using existing infrastructure.
Spearheaded by Gasunie, Gate terminal is just one of the Gas Roundabout project’s landmark enterprises. Others include a cutting-edge salt cavern storage project in Zuidwending and the acquisition of the North German gas grid.
Marcel Kramer, Chairman and CEO of Gasunie, emphasises that these measures will guarantee long-term supply to Europe. “Gas Roundabout is not about making the Netherlands the roundabout. It is about positioning the Netherlands at the centre of it,” he points out
THE RICHES OF ROTTERDAM
The economic importance of the Port of Rotterdam is impressive enough, with €22 billion (Dh106.6 billion) in revenues, and about 145,000 jobs. Now, as per May research from the Rotterdam School of Management, the Port’s significance to the Dutch economy is even greater than before. As a junction of global goods flow, it offers superior physical and knowledge infrastructure.
By means of cooperation with other ports and logistics hubs, it fosters specialisation and innovation. Cooperation with foreign ports — especially involving the Port of Rotterdam Authority — reinforces chain management and international competitiveness. An estimate of these strategic contributions aggregates to at least €6 billion of value-added revenue, which pegs its economic importance about 30 per cent higher than before.
THE DUTCH TOUCH
It is worth noting that the Netherlands’ biggest threat from global warming, and the best solutions to overcome it are both related to the sea. Modern windmills today help reduce the pollution that is raising sea levels around the world, engulfing low-lying areas such as the Netherlands. The country currently has the world’s biggest offshore wind farm development plan, with more than 2,000 wind turbines installed across the country. The goal is to meet 100 per cent of the country’s energy demand by 2020.
As a step towards countering the effects of modernisation, the Dutch government and its business communities have been giving green energy much thought, resulting in extremely innovative action. In 2008, the Netherlands launched the world’s largest biomass plant, which runs exclusively on chicken manure.
Delta’s 36.5-megawatt-capacity plant can convert 440,000 tonnes of manure into 270 million kilowatt hours of electricity to power 90,000 homes annually. The Clearwater Project — initiated by Atlantis Resources Corporation with Ballast Nedam, Delta Energy, IHC Merwede and Royal Haskoning — plans to generate tidal stream energy from the Eastern Scheldt barrier.
The sustainable and environmentally-friendly project will generate energy from lower tidal velocities and consistent currents, a project estimated to secure 50 per cent of the nation’s total economically exploitable free stream energy.
TNO, North Holland, Ooms Avenhorn and Imtech are working on a unique solar energy pilot for 2012 that involves cycles. Called SolaRoad, the project is expected to generate 50 kWh per square metre annually.
In their February 2011 report, Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN) said that Dutch firms involved in biofuels, and wind, solar and geothermal energy, achieved a combined turnover of €3.8 billion.
