Which way should the port go, and who should have the attractive port site? The waves were high when the Port of Aabenraa held a debate meeting with the participation of the port's stakeholders in connection with the port's event 'Open Port'.
A central issue is housing at the port, something that the port's traditional users are not enthusiastic about. In the inner harbor, one of the companies is Aalborg Portland, which has its cement silos 150 meters from where housing is planned in the long term at the port.
A relocation to the part of the port where the old Ensted power plant was located is not something that Aalborg Portland's director would have anything against. It is this part of the port where the water depth at the quay is currently 18 meters. This makes it the deepest in Denmark.
- I see a future with 2.5 million tons of cement per year, and the Port of Aabenraa is our main route into Germany. I would rather move our factory to the Ensted site, but the problem is how we get there without a loss of 200 million DKK for a new factory, says Aalborg Portland CEO Michael Lundgaard Thomsen, who absolutely wants to avoid housing close to his factory.
Mayor: Housing is coming
Although the pressure on the mayor of Aabenraa Municipality Jan Riber Jakobsen (C) was no less than intent on avoiding or postponing housing at the port as long as possible, he stood firm.
- We would like to keep all companies at the port, but there is a lease, and when it ends, housing will come. This has been decided in the last two city council terms, Jan Riber Jakobsen maintained.
Danish Industry had sent its expert in the field in the form of senior chief consultant Jakob Svane, who spoke on behalf of its members.
- It is super important to have a dialogue, but you can't have both with housing and businesses. Businesses need a long time horizon so that they can invest, and that means 25-30 years, said Svane.
Aalborg Portland's director even had an example from housing on Aarhus Ø, where the harbor meets housing.
- Many of the homes, such as Bjarke Ingels', cannot open their windows facing the harbor because there is too much noise and dust. They can only open the windows to the back, said Michael Lundgaard Thomsen.
But the battle for the port area is too important to be left to the companies.
- The most important thing for us is to attract labor and increase the population. We do this, among other things, with attractive housing. When we get a family here from Copenhagen, and one of them has found work, we guarantee a job for the spouse. We must work together and not against each other, said the mayor, who could also offer more than qualified labor:
- We want you to be able to get the largest ships in here, so you can get the best prices. You can't get that with the harbor depth of six meters in the inner harbor, where you are now.
PtX is no longer safe
The potential lies in moving some of the companies out to the Ensted site. In addition to the 500-meter-long quay with a water depth of 18 meters, this part of the harbor also has a hinterland area of 400,000 square meters, which has a category seven environmental approval.
On the site where Ørsted previously had coal-fired energy production, there are thoughts that there may be PtX production in the future, but that is not entirely a given anymore.
- I have doubts about whether we should have PtX on the Enstedværket site. I am sure we can get more out of the golden egg, so we should not settle. But I think it could be transport, said Mayor Jan Riber Jakobsen.
Thoughts about a container port on the Ensted site with Padborg Transport Center as a dry port are already abounding in Danish port circles.
One of the participants in the debate was the director of Padborg Transport Center, and the distance of only about 30 km from the Port of Aabenraa and the Transport Center opens up possibilities.
- We need to have some green corridors created so that there can be traffic between the Port of Aabenraa and the Padborg Transport Center. We are in a strengthened position, but we are burdening the environment due to high CO2 emissions. 150 million liters of diesel are sold per year by the oil companies here, and we even believe that the figure is higher. Therefore, we must have moved as much as possible by sea, so that we can take the last stretch on land, added director Jesper Schimann Hansen.
Possible port expansion of the deep-sea quay
The quay on the Enstedværket site is currently 500 meters long, while the catchment area is a full 400,000 square meters.
- We have agreed in the city council to investigate an expansion from the current 500 meters of quay length, so that it fits the 400,000 square meters of hinterland area, noted Jan Riber Jakobsen.
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