Netherlands

Huge water defence programme planned

Article published on the 2008-12-19 Latest update 2008-12-19 17:33 TU

Dykes in the Dutch province of Zeeland.
(Credit: A. van der Linde - Wikimedia)

The Dutch government is to launch a huge programme of investment to protect coastlines, secure the supply of drinking water and create innovative offshore wind farms.

Most of the Netherlands is below sea level and the Dutch are increasingly worried about the threat of rising sea levels with the advent of global warming.

“Sixty-six per cent of the country is below sea level we need to protect that part of the country, it is also the wealthiest part of the country where most of the industry is,” says Andrej Crowell an analyst at the Free University of Amsterdam. 

On Thursday the government unveiled a plan worth more than 100 billion euros over the next century to improve the country’s sea defences.

They will add huge sand deposit to the coast, improve drainage and expand the Ijsselmeer artificial lake north of Amsterdam.

The ambitious plan will also include the creation of a massive windmill park in two areas of the North Sea, which could generate up to 6,000 megawatts of energy by 2020 – as much as six coal-fired power stations.

“To use part of the North Sea that is part of the territorial waters of the Netherlands to increase the use of wind energy, to build a huge park of windmills - a very Dutch plan,” Crowell told RFI.

The plan will include the construction of a harbour in the North Sea to be used as an addition to Europe's biggest port, Rotterdam. Costs of fortifications against water were more than five billion euros in 2007, but the inclusion of a new port and power generation could offset the outlay.

“The Dutch are very used to paying tax for protecting against the water,” says Crowell.