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This week, WarmtelinQ is using a guided drilling technique to lay a long heat transport pipeline under the Nieuwe Maas river. The pipeline will run under the river from Vondelingenplaat to Vlaardingen. It is more than a kilometer long, measuring 1,039 meters to be precise. This is one of the longest drillings carried out by WarmtelinQ. The pipeline is intended to supply South Holland with residual heat.
The transport pipeline is part of the work of WarmtelinQ, an underground heat transport system that allows heat from the port of Rotterdam to be used to provide sustainable heating for 120,000 homes and businesses in South Holland. Heat that was previously lost is given a second life thanks to WarmtelinQ.
A month earlier, in November, WarmtelinQ also drilled a transport pipeline under the Nieuwe Maas river. This is the return pipeline. This pipeline returns the cooled residual heat to the starting point, where it is reheated for further use. The pipeline being installed this week will transport residual heat at the right temperature for use—more than 120 degrees Celsius—to its destination: households and businesses in South Holland.
Residual heat promotes energy independence in the Netherlands. It comes from sources that are close to the recipients, rather than having to be sourced from elsewhere in the world. Residual heat is domestically produced energy and promotes energy security. It also reduces dependence on gas and saves CO2.
The heat transport pipeline under the Nieuwe Maas river goes about forty meters deep into the ground. The pipeline has a diameter of 900 millimeters. It is being pulled in at a speed of 150 meters per hour. In total, the pulling process takes one day. Ten telescopic cranes are needed to hold the pipe in place before it goes into the ground. Four mobile crane machines guide the pipe into the ground.
Unlike other directional drilling projects, where there is sufficient space to weld pipes together, space had to be made in a nearby parking lot for the welding work on the drill site under the Nieuwe Maas. The welded pipe sections were moved 600 meters and laid in various horizontal bends before finally being prepared and drilled into the ground.
The drilling under the new Maas is part of WarmtelinQ's work between Vondelingenplaat and Vlaardingen. The construction of the Vondelingenplaat-Vlaardingen route is proceeding according to plan, with the pipeline construction work scheduled for completion in the third quarter of 2026.
About WarmtelinQ
The Netherlands is working hard to achieve a sustainable future. Part of this development is the construction of the WarmtelinQ heat transport network. WarmtelinQ will transport surplus heat from companies in the port of Rotterdam to other parts of South Holland. Heat that currently disappears into the air or water will soon be reused to heat 120,000 homes and businesses.
WarmtelinQ is a subsidiary of N.V. Nederlandse Gasunie.
