Stagnation Rotterdam port: directors demand action from cabinet
No growth in the port of Rotterdam for 20 months. Administrators want a government plan à la “Project Beethoven” to save the port.
Published on February 11, 2025
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The port of Rotterdam is facing serious problems. It has been shrinking for almost twenty months, caused by capacity problems in the electricity grid and delays in sustainable projects. Municipality and province are now calling on the government for swift action, similar to the successful 'Project Beethoven' in Eindhoven. Companies are relocating due to competition and lack of support. Without quick action, job losses and the closure of the port gates are imminent. The situation is so dire that the ambition to be the most sustainable port in the world by 2050 seems increasingly unattainable. It is high time that the government takes steps to change this. Rotterdam must once again become a leader in the world port economy, but this can only be achieved with unorthodox measures and substantial investments in CO₂ storage.
Critical situation
The situation in the port of Rotterdam is alarming. Since June 2023, the port has been facing constant contraction. A third of all sustainable projects are at a standstill due to problems with the power grid. This situation is exacerbated by the recent nitrogen rulings of December 2024. These are not small projects: investments worth more than a billion euros are at risk. Nearly three-quarters of the 60 port companies surveyed indicate they have new investment projects that cannot be authorized now. The daily cost of this delay amounts to more than a million euros.
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Geopolitical vulnerability
The current situation also has significant geopolitical implications. According to Port of Rotterdam Authority CEO Boudewijn Siemons, the delays in the energy transition make the Netherlands especially vulnerable. This is underlined by a report by The Hague Center for Strategic Studies that shows that Europe is still 90% dependent on fossil fuels. The ambition to be 90%t fossil-free by 2050 is thus seriously jeopardized. This is all the more worrying because 40% of the Dutch CO₂ reduction must come from the industrial cluster in Rotterdam.
Concrete obstacles
The problems are diverse and complex. Councilman Robert Simons and Commissioner Arne Weverling point to four main issues: an overloaded electricity grid, nitrogen restrictions, high energy costs, and lack of space. The development of a hydrogen network is mainly at a standstill. Victor van der Chijs, president of Deltalinqs, emphasizes the irony of the situation: “The bizarre thing is this: these are energy transition projects aimed at reducing the Netherlands' carbon emissions.” Bureaucracy and the deteriorating investment climate are causing businesses in the port area to shut down.
The directors urgently call on the cabinet for concrete measures. They call for equalizing grid tariffs with neighboring countries, solutions to the overloaded electricity grid, substantial investments in carbon storage, and exemption from nitrogen restrictions for green projects.
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