Sweden: The Environmental Court of Appeal Says YES to the Norvikudden Freight Port

The Swedish Environmental Court of Appeal today ruled that the building of a freight port at Norvikudden in Nynäshamn could go ahead. The decision means that Ports of Stockholm can continue with project planning for the construction of the port, which is being built to meet the future demands for the provision of goods to the rapidly growing Stockholm region.

“The Environmental Court of Appeal ruling is important for Stockholm. The region will continue to expand rapidly over the coming decades. To continue to be one of the world’s most green cities we must invest in long-term, sustainable infrastructure. We are investing in Norvikudden to be able to cope with development throughout the 21st century,” says Sten Nordin, the Stockholm City Commissioner responsible for finance.

“This is an important milestone in our efforts to build a freight port to meet the transport demands of the future in an environmentally friendly way. This ruling means that we can now look forward to the Environmental Court establishing the detailed terms and conditions so that we can then begin construction,” says Henrik Widerståhl, Ports of Stockholm’s acting CEO.

Reasons behind the Norvikudden initiative

By 2030 the Stockholm region is expected to expand by the equivalent of the population of the whole of Gothenburg. Continued strong growth is also projected for the entire Baltic Sea region, which currently has 100 million residents. This imposes demands for an efficient and environmentally friendly supply of goods to the region that also strengthens the region’s competitiveness internationally. Increased shipping transport is central to coping with the region’s development.

Concomitantly the ports of the future also face new demands. Globalisation, economic development and more container freight indicates that freight volumes will continue to grow. This in turn means a trend towards larger and larger vessels that require straightforward and sufficiently deep port approach lanes. Norvikudden, with naturally deep, short approach fairways and its proximity to the market, is the optimal location for a new freight port in the Stockholm region.

The port will be owned by Ports of Stockholm, which in turn is a subsidiary company of the City of Stockholm.

The world’s largest port operator, Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH), will run the container terminal on behalf of Ports of Stockholm. HPH currently operates Ports of Stockholm’s existing container operations.

Moving the current container operations from Frihamnen will also facilitate the construction of the Stockholm Royal Seaport, an entirely new city district offering 10 000 homes and 30 000 work places.

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Source: stoports, January 9, 2011