Port of Amsterdam plots path toward its green maritime hub vision

January 28, 2025, by Sara Kosmajac

The Port of Amsterdam, the second largest port in the Netherlands, has established a framework to become a ‘hub’ for clean shipping, renewable energy and circular industry by 2040.

According to the port, its “Green Port Amsterdam” 2040 vision is bolstered by its new four-year (2025-2028) strategy called “On course toward a future-proof port complex”. Both the vision and the strategy were reportedly developed last year in collaboration with other maritime industry stakeholders and are awaiting formal approval by the City Council.

As explained, during the period from 2021 to the end of 2024, to meet its sustainability goals, the Port of Amsterdam was focused on transitioning coal terminals, establishing and expanding new activities in line with circular industry principles as well as maintaining port accessibility. Drawing from this momentum, the port’s representatives emphasized that the 2025-2028 strategy is expected to take the efforts further—and closer to the decarbonization-oriented 2040 vision.

Specifically, over the next four years, the Port of Amsterdam is set to start phasing out fossil-based activities while at the same time scaling up non-fossil operations. As per the port, the overarching aim of these endeavors is to place renewable energy and low-emission logistics on center stage.

“If there is one place where this transition can take shape, it is the Port of Amsterdam. One of our objectives is to strengthen the development of Green Energy Port Amsterdam by increasing the transport of renewable liquids by 25% compared to 2024,” Koen Overtoom, CEO of Port of Amsterdam, highlighted.

“By 2028, approximately three-quarters of the port company’s total revenue will come from non-fossil activities. We are also reinforcing our position as a reliable and predictable port with high safety standards while investing in port infrastructure,” he added.

Overtoom also shared that shore power facilities, powered by green energy from offshore sources, will be available by the quays, along with the infrastructure and facilities for bunkering renewable fuels.

“The required infrastructure, such as additional substations and electricity grids for electrification, networks for hydrogen, steam, heat, CO₂, and industrial water, will be extensive and widely available,” he remarked.

Shore power installations are in line with a plan laid out by the Dutch government back in May 2023, the same month when Danish equipment provider PowerCon clinched a contract to provide shore power systems for cruise ships at the Port of Amsterdam.

Namely, the Netherlands’ Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management revealed it planned to invest €180 million in supporting the implementation of such facilities within seaports, with an extra €40 million envisioned to go toward the climate fund.

The Port of Amsterdam, together with the ports of Rotterdam, Groningen, Moerdijk, and North Sea Port (Vlissingen, Terneuzen, and Ghent), shared it would work closely with the government and the relevant terminals to turn the project into reality.