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Dieren en planten

Water en land

Mens en Milieu

Mining at sea   Pipelines and cables   
Oil and gas pipelines, Ecomare

Pipelines and cables

A network of oil and gas pipelines lie in or on the bottom of the sea. In the whole North Sea area in 1998, more than 9500 kilometers of oil and gas pipelines were present. That is equivalent to 1.7 million kilograms of steel and 2.2 million kilograms of concrete. More than 5000 tons of tar and 60,000 tons of asphalt were needed for the constructions. To protect the pipelines from rusting, 6500 tons of zinc were used in the anodes. Oil and gas pipelines last 20 to 50 years.

  • Kilometers of pipelines

    The number of kilometers of pipelines on the Dutch section of the Continental Plate has grown from 400 km in 1980 to more than 3000 km in 2000. The network of cables for electricity, telephony and data traffic is much larger.

  • Longest underwater powerline

    In 2007, the longest underwater powerline in the world was laid down between the Eems Harbour and Norway. This allows electricity to be transferred between Norway and the Netherlands.

  • Safety zone
    Ship laying cables, Photo Marijke de Boer

    There is a safety zone of 500 meters on both sides of a pipeline or cable on the sea bottom. No activities are allowed to take place within this zone. Therefore, pipelines and cables take up a lot of room. The necessary space will increase even more due to the growth of the telephony and data cable network. In the Fifth Note for Environmental Planning, the Dutch government assumes that one third of the surface of the Dutch section of the North Sea bottom will soon be occupied by cable network, as long as present policy remains unchanged.

  • Kilometers of pipelines

    The number of kilometers of pipelines on the Dutch section of the Continental Plate has grown from 400 km in 1980 to more than 3000 km in 2000. The network of cables for electricity, telephony and data traffic is much larger.

  • Longest underwater powerline

    In 2007, the longest underwater powerline in the world was laid down between the Eems Harbour and Norway. This allows electricity to be transferred between Norway and the Netherlands.

  • Safety zone

    There is a safety zone of 500 meters on both sides of a pipeline or cable on the sea bottom. No activities are allowed to take place within this zone. Therefore, pipelines and cables take up a lot of room. The necessary space will increase even more due to the growth of the telephony and data cable network. In the Fifth Note for Environmental Planning, the Dutch government assumes that one third of the surface of the Dutch section of the North Sea bottom will soon be occupied by cable network, as long as present policy remains unchanged.