Eastern Scheldt Tidal Plant Goes Live

The tidal power plant in the Dutch Eastern Scheldt surge barrier was put into service on Wednesday, 25 November, heavy construction equipment maker Huisman said.

The festive commissioning of the largest tidal energy project in the Netherlands, as well as the world’s largest commercial tidal installation of five turbines in an array, was performed by Diederik Samson, Group Chairman of the Dutch Labour Party.

“This project marks an important step in the development of tidal energy. Tidal technology is innovative and could grow into a significant Dutch export product. The export expectation of tidal energy is more than 200 Gigawatt. With our turbines in the Eastern Scheldt storm surge barrier, we can now show the world what tidal energy is all about: providing a clean and reliable source of energy that could fulfill 10-20% of the world’s electricity needs,” said Hans van Breugel, CEO of Tocardo, producer of the tidal power plant.

Besides Tocardo and Huisman, a number of other Dutch companies were involved in this project. Strukton has been actively involved in the project planning and was fully responsible for project management during installation. Mammoet’s involvement in the project comprises the transportation and installation of the Tidal Power Plant at the Eastern Scheldt storm surge barrier. The local companies Istimewa Elektrotechniek, Van der Straaten and Hillebrand also played a role in terms of the electro-technical installation and steel structures.

The province of Zeeland has provided a significant financial contribution to the project.

“Zeeland is surrounded by water. We are the only province in the Netherlands with land in the sea, which is why tidal energy is such a good match for us. In recent years we have built up much expertise in this area. We are a pioneer and now we can show that the water is an important energy source for Zeeland. Tidal energy is the future, of that I am convinced,” provincial representative Ben de Reu said.

This project also received funding from the European Regional Development Fund, the Dutch government and the province of Zeeland as part of the Operational Programme for Zuid-Nederland (OP-Zuid).

Image: Huisman