Boskalis Uses Biofuel Blend on Offshore Wind Project

Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. will use a biofuel blend on the project to install the export cable to the Borssele offshore wind farm in a move to promote sustainability. 

The Borssele Alpha project is being executed on behalf of TenneT and is aimed at connecting the Borssele offshore grid with the Dutch high-voltage grid. During this project, Boskalis will run its vessels on a biofuel blend of up to 30 percent, and last week the trailing suction hopper dredger Prins der Nederlanden was powered by a biofuel blend resulting in a substantial CO2 reduction.

Using biofuel is part of the company's “Boskalis on Bio” program and it recently signed a long-term partnership with biofuel supplier GoodFuels. The program is aimed at achieving a 35 percent reduction in the CO2 emitted by the Boskalis fleet and equipment in the Netherlands in the next five years. Various sea trials conducted by Boskalis have shown that sustainable biofuels lead to a reduction in CO2 emissions of up to 90 percent compared to fossil fuels and are also much more effective than alternatives such as LNG, said Boskalis in a statement. 

On the Marker Wadden project, Boskalis performed dredging work for six months using a B50 biofuel blend, consisting of 50 percent residual products from the paper industry which also resulted in a huge reduction in CO2. Boskalis now uses this fuel to power vessels and its dry earthmoving equipment and trucks in the Netherlands.