The christening of a construction crane on Thursday marked the official start of the construction of a new section of the heat transport network in South Holland. The pipeline will bring residual heat from the port of Rotterdam to homes and businesses.

With the ceremony, Gasunie subsidiary WarmtelinQ and the contractors involved celebrated the start of the construction of a 25-kilometre underground heat pipeline between Rijswijk and Leiden. This route is part of the heat transport network that transports residual heat from the port of Rotterdam to South Holland. The work is expected to be completed in 2028.

According to Inge Aardse, Heat Transport Director at WarmtelinQ, the Rijswijk-Leiden route 'makes an important contribution to the energy system in South Holland and to a sustainable heat supply for the future.'

Underground heat transport

Gasunie subsidiary WarmtelinQ is an underground heat transport network that reuses residual heat from the Port of Rotterdam to eventually provide sustainable heating to some 120,000 homes and businesses in South Holland.

Construction will start at five locations along the route: in Rijswijk at Wilhelminapark, along the A4 near Zoeterwoude, in The Hague at Bosweide and Forepark and in Leiden at Stevenshof. Other parts of the route will follow later.

Under motorway and railway

A variety of techniques will be used for the construction, including drilling under motorways and railway lines, ploughing pipes into boggy ground along the A4 and digging trenches. One of the most notable parts planned is a 1,562-metre borehole, the longest within the WarmtelinQ project.

The entire heat network will eventually run from the port of Rotterdam to Leiden and will have a total length of 54 kilometres. Large parts of the pipeline between the port and The Hague are already in the ground.

The progress of the project can be followed via the WarmtelinQ website.

Photo: Warmtelinq