Mehr Kohle für viel mehr Kohle

摘要

The northwest German port of Wil-helmshaven spreads its feelers to inland power plants as it hopes to conquer a significant share of Germany's growing steam coal imports. Its ambitions are underscored by the upgrading of its Niedersachsen-bru'cke coal terminal which has seen its annual handling capacity doubled to 8 mill, t in a three-year construction project. The refurbished facility run by German ports-to-logistics group Rhenus was officially inaugurated in April. After dredging alongside the berth and the installation of two more gantry cranes, the terminal is nowrnable to handle fully-laden capesize bulk carriers up to 240,000 dwt whereas before vessels had to be lightered in Rotterdam to be able to access Wilhelmshaven. Rhenus has already secured three major handling contracts for the Niedersachsenbriicke: two from local power plants one of which (operated by GDF Suez) is still under construction and to be commissioned next year, and one from an inland power plant (operated by E.on) some 190 km away in the south of the state of Lower Saxony. The latter marks Wilhelmshavens debut as a coal transit port for customers located in the hinterland.%Wilhelmshaven soll größter deutscher Umschlagplatz für Steinkohle werden. Terminalbetreiber Rhenus Midgard sieht trotz eher rückläufiger Kohleverstromung gute Chancen beim seewärtigen Import für Kraftwerkskunden. Nach drei Jahren Bauzeit geht jetzt die erweiterte Niedersachsenbrücke in Betrieb.