The logistics services provider Rhenus and its business centre in Wilhelmshaven now offers one of the most efficient bulk commodity terminals between Le Havre and Hamburg thanks to the upgrading work that has taken place on the Niedersachsenbru¨cke jetty, writes Matthias Arnhold. The centre has become an important addition to the existing capacity on the North Sea coast, particularly for handling coal, in view of the energy mix that is still required in Germany and all over Europe.
The Niedersachsenbru¨cke jetty, which Rhenus Midgard has operated for almost four decades, has developed into a significant transshipment site for bulk commodities since the mid-1970s. Coal plays a particularly important role in this process. The port logistics company, which belongs to the family-managed Rhenus Group with its global operations, or rather its predecessor company handled the first coal-carrying vessel, the Kopainia Zofiowka, at the Niedersachsenbru¨cke jetty on 22 April 1976. Rhenus Midgard broke through the 50mt (million tonne) record for imported coal 35 years later, when it unloaded the cargo on board the Key Action at the beginning of 2011.
Cars and trucks were banned from the roads in Germany on certain Sundays in the mid-1970s during the first oil crisis, for example — and the issue of energy supplies is still a major concern in the second decade of the 21st century. As a result of its amendment to the German Renewal Energy Act (EEG) in the summer of 2011, the German government set the goal of increasing the share of renewable energy supplies to 35% by 2020. Other countries in Europe and beyond share similar ambitions. Germany’s Environment Minister, Peter Altmaier, who has been in office since the spring of this year, pointed out in an interview with a German weekly publication at the end of July 2012 that “65% still has to be generated in other ways for the time being.”
ENERGY MIXProviding energy supplies solely from renewable or regenerative resources may sound very promising, but only a mix of renewable and fossil energy sources can guarantee the needs of
private households and the business world at the moment and in the near future. Two other factors play a significant role in Germany and have a great effect on the change in national energy policy and the desire for clean, affordable electricity that is available at all times: firstly, the decision taken by the German government to abandon nuclear power by 2022 following the tsunami disaster and its effects on the nuclear power station at Fukushima in Japan — and secondly the shutdown of black coal mining by 2018.
As a result, three quarters of the black coal used in the country already comes from abroad.The Association of Coal Importers says that only 12.3mt used in 2011 came from domestic mines according to its provisional figures, but adds that 47.5mt were transported to Germany from other countries in order to cover domestic needs. Sea-going vessels primarily handle these imports, and this underlines the importance of the ports for the smooth logistics operations that support these processes.
EXPANSION AND REBUILDING WORK“Ships from the Russian Federation, the United States of America and Columbia in particular dock here, and we unload the contents at the Niedersachsenbru¨cke jetty,” says Matthias Schrell, managing director of Rhenus Midgard in Wilhelmshaven, commenting on the countries of origin of the imported coal. Now that the berth has been deepened, it is possible to handle fully loaded Capesize-class bulk carriers — i.e. vessels with a draught of up to 18.50 metres — at the long-standing bulk commodity transshipment facilities.
“As a result, we’re on a par with the ARA ports — i.e. Antwerp, Rotterdam and Amsterdam — and other North Sea coast ports, which specialize in the bulk commodity business. In comparison with Hamburg or Brunsbu¨ttel, the Capesize vessels no longer have to be lightened beforehand,” Schrell adds. “Then there are the investments in the transport and storage capacity associated with the pier jetty and in our transshipment equipment.”
While the state’s own infrastructure company, Niedersachsen Ports, deepened the mooring basin in front of the Niedersachsenbru¨cke jetty as part of the building work for the adjacent Jade Weser Port and set up a sheet pile wall using pile drives, the Rhenus Group has introduced powerful cranes and conveyor belts and increased the facilities for providing intermediate storage for bulk commodities. The new gantry slewing cranes are almost 75 metres high and have a reach of 55 metres. They can lift loads weighing up to 63 tonnes and can unload 4,000 tonnes of coal per hour from the Capesize vessels, which can hold up to a quarter of a million tonnes of the fuel.
A second, new conveyor belt will come into operation by the beginning of 2013, and it will be able to transport 4,000 tonnes per hour from the pier jetty to the storage areas on land. One storage area for 450,000 tonnes has already been completed, a second with the same capacity will follow during the next few months and a third one is being prepared. The logistics company can efficiently feed the new wagon loading station with two bucket wheel machines in order to achieve shorter loading times for the trains.
“The new conditions are unique in Germany, and we also provide the very best facilities at the Niedersachsenbru¨cke jetty compared to our rivals and in terms of the whole region between Le Havre and Hamburg,” Schrell emphasizes. The managing director of Rhenus Midgard in Wilhelmshaven talks about the possibility of transshipping between 8mt and 10mt of bulk commodities per annum at the site that is steeped in tradition once it has reached its full productive efficiency. At the same time, the logistics services provider is seeking to contain the emissions associated with transhipping coal with an extensive package of measures so that the emissions are kept as low as possible.
Two coal-fired power stations in the immediate vicinity belong to the Rhenus customer network at Wilhelmshaven; one power station is still being constructed, and Rhenus will also be responsible for its coaling facility at a later date. The logistics specialist has built mixing silos with a capacity of 15,000 cubic metres for this task, and Rhenus will operate these once the station has been finished as part of a services agreement. Rhenus also works for purchasers of power station coal located all over Germany and in neighbouring countries, and they are supplied using the optimized wagon loading station.
The first coal train set off on its journey from the new facility in August this year. Rhenus’ own rail services or those ordered
by the customers will benefit from the commissioning of a second set of railway sidings between Wilhelmshaven situated on the Jade Bay and Oldenburg located further inland in future.
A WEALTH OF EXPERIENCECoal is an extremely important source of business, not just for the Niedersachenbru¨cke jetty, but also for the Rhenus Midgard seaport group and the entire Rhenus Port Logistics business area. The logistics services provider, which is celebrating its centenary this year, can look back on many years of experience in transhipping and storing this fossil fuel. It has had excellent relations with energy supply companies in Germany and Europe for decades, as the services provider has become a reliable partner in guaranteeing energy requirements with its transshipment operations at seaports and inland waterway ports, its professional storage services, its in-factory
logistics and its transport services by inland waterway vessels or by rail.
“We’re pursuing a multi-port strategy, particularly in cooperation with the branch in Nordenham, which is only 30km away from Wilhelmshaven as the crow flies and where Rhenus operates the largest publicly accessible private port in Germany. That means, for example, that the key account management department looks after the two ports as a joint project in operating terms. We look at what our customers require and orient our concepts by the conditions available at the most suitable site. We don’t lose sight of the Rhenus bulk commodity terminals at Hamburg or Bremen either, which can be reached by seagoing vessels, when trying to meet the needs of our customers from a logistics point of view,” says Michael Appelhans, managing director of Rhenus Midgard, with the logistics services provider’s network in mind.
The city port at Nordenham, for example, has links with the inland waterway network, which do not exist in Wilhelmshaven, and this makes it much more efficient to provide transport services for black coal bound for some power station customers from there.
ENERGY HUBUsing capital-intensive port facilities in a flexible manner is one goal of the Rhenus Group in a general sense. But hardly any other business centre operated by Rhenus typifies the energy mix as Wilhelmshaven does. There are believed to be enough global reserves of coal for a further 200 years, and imports of coal from many different parts of the planet dominate the picture at the Niedersachsenbru¨cke jetty. At the same time, Rhenus Midgard is improving its facilities at the northern port at least six kilometres away, where one manufacturer of offshore foundations will set up in business and make use of the logistics expertise of the services provider in its project.
The knowledge gained in the past about storage (pre-) assembly processes and transshipping particularly heavy or large components — for example, for the building site logistics for the power station being built in the immediate vicinity — serve here as a valuable experience base for future tasks too.Wilhelmshaven will continue to increase its importance as Germany’s leading energy hub because of these local conditions.