Van Oord bags another dredging project in Taiwan

Van Oord has won a contract to dredge the water intake basin of the Taiwanese Da Tan power plant.

Cutter suction dredger HAM 218 and trailing suction hopper dredger HAM 318 will join forces on this project. According to Van Oord, this project will kick off in early 2021.

Driven by the growing demand for energy in Taiwan, Hwa Chi Construction Co. started the expansion of the power plant.

Firstly, Van Oord will deepen the existing water intake basin to increase its capacity to take in cooling water. For the dredging works, the company will deploy cutter suction dredger HAM 218.

“Van Oord came up with the smartest and most optimal solution to deepen the shallow and narrow inflow bay within an extremely short time frame. A proof of their marine ingenuity and many years of experience,” said Mr Tsai, Chairman at Hwa Chi Construction Co.

Furthermore, hopper dredger HAM 318 will transport the dredged material from Da Tan, located on Taiwan’s northwest coast, to Taipei. Using this material, the company will reclaim a new port area, allowing the port in Taiwan’s capital to expand.

Under the deal, Van Oord will complete all dredging and reclamation works by mid-2021.

“We are pleased that Hwa Chi Construction contracted Van Oord for these dredging works. In the past, we worked together on a number of Taiwanese projects, including Kaohsiung’s port expansion. Our mutual trust was key in receiving this award,” commented Guus de Vries, Area Director at Van Oord.

In short, Van Oord has been active in Taiwan for many years. In 2017, it received the Golden Quality award for the successful execution of Kaohsiung’s port expansion.

There, the company completed reclamation works 8 months ahead of schedule, enabling Taiwan’s largest port to grow.