Celebration of Electrification AWG platform

The Nederlandse Aardoliemaatschappij (NAM) has been producing natural gas near Ameland since the 1980s. The production sites (two platforms at sea and one land location) used part of the extracted natural gas to generate electricity for their own installations. NAM has now modernized the installations at all the locations on Ameland. In the process, they have become fully electric, which is very unusual for an offshore installation. The completion was celebrated at the Ameland Nature Center.

Example of corporate social responsibility

Director of NAM, Mr. Johan Atema opened the day. He talked about the interaction between NAM and the island. A fine example of social entrepreneurship: by coordination, the activities have been and are taking into account the area, nature and people. Johan Atema also emphasized the relevance of natural gas extraction, which is equivalent to the heat demand of the entire province of Friesland.

Electrification comprehensive project in protected nature 

The electrification was a multi-year project with various modifications on land, in the dunes and on the seabed; all work in protected nature. Herbert Goorhuis, Operations & Maintenance Lead NAM and Erik Kugel, Project Manager at Boskalis told about the different phases in the project. First, an electricity cable was laid from the village of Buren to the land location and then from the land location through the seabed to the large platform offshore. At the same time, NAM carried out major maintenance. The Amelander firms Spoelstra and Nagtegaal also performed work. NAM now uses green electricity instead of raw natural gas for the production sites. This avoids significant emissions of CO2 and NOx.

Nature impact study

Mr. Johan Krol, Ecologist at the Nature Center closed the morning program and talked about the subsidence and sedimentation research in the salt marsh. With the measurements of recent years, no subsidence of the salt marsh is observed.

Handing over check for sustainable schools program

To celebrate the electrification of AWG -1, NAM handed over two checks. The one of 37,500 euros was for the Amelander Museums, to support making the museums more sustainable. The second check was presented to Mayor Leo Pieter Stoel by Johan Atema and Jan van der Tempel of the DOB Academy. That 25,000 euros is a joint gift from DOB (De Oude Bibliotheek in Delft) and NAM and is intended for the rollout of a sustainable schools program on Ameland.

Presentation of the check for the teaching program. From left to right: Johan Atema (NAM director), Jan van der Tempel (founder DOB Academy) and Leo Pieter Stoel (mayor of Ameland). 

Energy wall updated

On the occasion of electrification, the energy wall that describes the development of energy on Ameland in the Nature Center has been updated.

Energy wall at the Ameland Nature Center