Denmark’s Port of Odense has announced that it plans to invest between DKK4 billion and DKK5 billion ($568- $710 million) to establish what it has described as the country’s largest dry port.
According to Splash247.com, the Odense Dry Port plans to accommodate the country’s upcoming offshore wind sector expansion. The port will cover an almost one million square metre area between Odense and the town of Årslev.
Denmark, the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium in May unveiled an ambitious joint venture to build 10 000 wind turbines in the North Sea by 2050 to ensure greater energy independence.
“The establishment of the dry port will see the Port of Odense move the warehousing and logistics part away from the port area to a new 500 000-sqm hub located close to the motorway and the railway,” the online news portal reported.
“The port said that efforts are under way to get the necessary approvals in place as soon as possible, adding that the hub itself would reduce dependence on the international supply chains, citing among other things the pandemic, war in Ukraine, and grounding in the Suez Canal, which have challenged production speed in the green transition and other logistics activities in large parts of the world.”
Odense Dry Port said in a statement that it must ensure that the port’s large customers within the wind turbine and offshore industry can keep up with demand and ensure that they have the opportunity to have larger stocks of the most necessary parts close to their production.
Mayor of Odense Municipality, Peter Rahbæk Juel, said: “The huge port expansion which the port planned in 2008 was completed in 2020 and is today already crucial for offshore wind turbine production. Odense Dry Port will be a vital facility because it can strengthen the logistics for the same production at the port.”