Initiative energy hub Wilhelmshaven 2.0
A current analysis summarizes the potential and opportunities the Wilhelmshaven port offers as a "green energy hub". Due to the energy transition, a change process is pending for the existing energy hub in Wilhelmshaven based on the handling of coal and mineral oil. This is now being actively designed.
Merkel Energy GmbH has now completed a location analysis on behalf of the "Wilhelmshaven 2.0 Energy Hub" initiative. The consulting company based in Hamburg and Essen specializes in questions relating to current developments in the energy industry.
Opportunities for Wilhelmshaven
In the analysis on Wilhelmshaven, the potential and value creation opportunities through renewable energies (RE) for the port location and the region were worked out. In the location analysis, the energy industry developments, financing issues and the role of an innovative energy hub of the future are highlighted and analyzed based on the regulatory framework. Finally, the opportunities and risks as well as the strengths and weaknesses of the port of Wilhelmshaven are presented.
The European "Green Deal" and German climate policy pose gigantic challenges to the energy supply of the future with extensive changes for the economy and society. Today's energy security in Germany is currently 19.5 percent 1) covered by renewable energy sources. If renewable electricity and "green" hydrogen are to be the basis for Europe's energy supply by 2050, real efforts have yet to be made. The import of considerable amounts of "green" energy will be of crucial importance. The report sees this as an opportunity for Wilhelmshaven.
The result of this location analysis confirms the work of the initiative: "We will make it clear at every opportunity why the energy hub Wilhelmshaven 2.0 is necessary, what it stands for and why Wilhelmshaven and the region is an ideal location for the age of renewable energies", emphasizes Hans-Joachim Uhlendorf, board member of the Wilhelmshavener Hafenwirtschafts-Vereinigung.
Bundled interests for more added value
The members of the initiative are the employers and business association Jade e. V., the Oldenburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the City of Wilhelmshaven, Niedersachsen Ports GmbH & Co. KG (NPorts) branch Wilhelmshaven, Container Terminal Wilhelmshaven JadeWeserPort-Marketing GmbH and Wilhelmshavener Hafenwirtschafts-Vereinigung e.V., which oversaw this project.
The members agree: global warming and climate change call for a stringent rethink. To this end, a realistically feasible future energy supply must be developed.
Optimal conditions for change
With its unique selling points, the deep fairway, the available space, the storage and storage facilities, the existing know-how and the will to pursue a realistic energy transition, the Wilhelmshaven port offers the best prerequisites for the implementation of a climate-neutral energy supply of the future. The transformation from a successful bulk port for fossil energies to an innovative and long-term "green energy hub" is a major task with sustainable opportunities for added value and new jobs.
The port of Wilhelmshaven is in a favorable position to handle large, deep-going ships and to make imported energy sources available in liquid or gaseous form via networks and storage facilities.
This fact, the renewable primary energy available at the location and the space available have made Wilhelmshaven interested in companies that are able to support the energy transition. According to the members of the initiative, these projects have great potential for added value in Wilhelmshaven and the local employment situation.
Mathias Lüdicke, branch manager of the port company NPorts and co-initiator of the "energy hub Wilhelmshaven 2.0" draws an interim balance sheet: "During the collaboration and the expert opinion, it became clear to all those involved that the energy hub Wilhelmshaven 2.0 will not emerge overnight. We need staying power, but I am confident that with a lot of commitment, with the support of the population, companies and politics, we can gradually make change possible.
The initiative was founded in October 2020 to classify and support the status of project inquiries and the realistic status of the planned projects. The actors are particularly interested in highlighting the Wilhelmshaven location with its special possibilities for implementing the energy transition. You are also relying on the city's new economic development scheme.
In regular working meetings, the initiative will develop the Wilhelmshaven location together with those interested in the project into the "Energy Hub 2.0".
1) BMWi: time series on the development of renewable energies in Germany using data from the Renewable Energy Statistics working group (AGEE-Stat) (as of February 2021)
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