First impressions – nothing, absolutely nothing can change the importance of that. At the Port of Aalborg on a spring day with bright sunshine and a biting cold wind, there is activity inside. Some of the employees are just finishing their midday exercises, and the joy practically flows out into the entrance area from the side room. But they are not the only ones who are happy, because other employees who come by also have time for a smile and a quick exchange.
Since August 2022, Kristian Thulesen Dahl has been CEO of the Port of Aalborg, and it is no coincidence that he landed in the Port of Aalborg.
- I had come to a point where I thought, if I am going to do something other than politics, it is now, says Kristian Thulesen Dahl and elaborates:
- I have studied here in Aalborg. Sometimes you might think that it was fate that I returned.
There is no doubt about his knowledge of Aalborg, a city he really loves. Today, as he heads into his first year in Aalborg as director of the port, the home in Thyregod has long since been supplemented.
- At first, I lived with my wife's aunt in Brønderslev, so I quickly learned when to drive to work to avoid the queue at the Limfjord Tunnel. Now I have an apartment in Aalborg, he says of his life, where he is in Aalborg during the week and at home in Thyregod at the weekend.
Location of the port
The Port of Aalborg is far from Aalborg itself, and this is an advantage for a modern commercial port.
- I often get emails from people who write that they have been to the Port of Aalborg. But they have been to Honnørkajen in the city and not in Aalborg Port. The port is located 13 km east of the city, and that is an advantage, says Kristian Thulesen Dahl, who, like many other port directors, does not have to fight for space with port housing, which entails a long series of restrictions for some commercial ports.
On the other hand, this means that there is information work that needs to be done.
- The challenge is to show what is happening at the port. That is why I also volunteer for almost everything when I am asked by associations and others. I'm trying to make people in Aalborg aware of the port, says Kristian Thulesen Dahl.
The location is an advantage for the port.
- Here we have some wise decisions with the port's location that were made many years ago, he says.
PtX
It is hardly possible to come close to a Danish port that does not have ambitious PtX plans in the drawer. In the Port of Aalborg there is a different approach that certainly seems much more likely and realistic than plans for huge facilities that some ports have in the long term.
- In these months, AAU's PtX test facility is moving here to the port. We as a port can ensure that we get started. Here, as a company, you can be closer to the research and hire yourself on a weekly basis, explains Kristian Thulesen Dahl.
His approach is focused on the fact that there is still development work to be done with the PtX technology.
- You have to start somewhere, and we have to get started, but we are taking one step at a time. Everyone is counting on a ketchup effect. AAU can help make the PtX process better and better, so that energy waste will be much less, he explains.
But there should be no doubt that the port is ready for the next step.
- We as a port must help facilitate the framework. We have the growth potential here, and it is planned for when it ends up on a large scale, says Kristian Thulesen Dahl.
At the company Aalborg Portland, which is Denmark's largest CO2 emitter, a green initiative on a smaller scale has been launched.
- Aalborg Portland has a test facility that collects one ton of CO2 per day. Normally, you don't start things on a large scale, says the port director.
Advantages of the Port of Aalborg
At a time when the green agenda is becoming more and more important, the Port of Aalborg is actively working on something that can give companies an advantage in terms of climate accounts.
- If a company here at the port needs a container from Hamburg, we look at whether it can come here by train. We have an average of one freight train that leaves here from the quayside every day. This is an advantage for customers who can wait for the freight train to arrive. If it is not possible with a freight train, we will also look into whether the containers can be sailed all the way here instead, says Kristian Thulesen Dahl about the freight train connection, which is just one of the port's assets.
There is also another idea that could make the port even more of a hub for the entire Limfjord.
- Can you imagine small electric ships sailing around with freight to the towns throughout the Limfjord, he asks about something that could mean fewer trucks on the roads.
Otherwise, the port already benefits from the fact that there is a motorway, an airport and the aforementioned train tracks all the way down to the quay. Overall, the green transition is taking place almost right outside the port director's office, because the wind turbine blades, yellow transition pieces and substations are just part of what Kristian Thulesen Dahl can point out from his favorite spot, the viewing terrace on top of the port building. It's something that the port employees have already noticed.
- They say that the terrace has never been used so much before, says Kristian Thulesen Dahl, as he proudly looks out over the port's green businesses and the old Grønlandskaj, which has been taken out of service.
There is another thing that is already very clear to the politician, who has successfully left politics.
- I pinch myself in the arm several times a week, and it's becoming more and more like that. It is my ambition to be here for many, many years, concludes Kristian Thulesen Dahl.
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