Nord Stream Hosted Seminar on the Environmental Issues of Offshore Infrastructure Projects
May 12, 2009 | Copenhagen | Today, environmental and industry experts gathered in Copenhagen to discuss the future of the Baltic Sea environment with regards to offshore infrastructure projects. Key stakeholders and authorities attended to inform themselves about Nord Stream and the environmental aspects of the pipeline project. The subjects addressed by the speakers included environmental monitoring, the safety during construction and operation, knowledge sharing across the industry, as well as the general environmental state of the Baltic Sea.
- Ola Oskarsson, Marine Biologist and CEO at Marin Mätteknik AB gave an overall introduction to the Baltic Sea environment and the challenges it faces.
- Jørgen Erik Larsen, Project Director at DHI Group focused on the progress of new technologies when conducting environmental research in relation to large offshore infrastructure projects, specifically the Fehmarn Belt Link.
- Director Peter Blach from Offshore Center Danmark talked about the Danish offshore energy sector and how the industry has grown within the recent years. He also addressed how offshore infrastructure projects are both constructed and de-commissioned.
- Neel Strøbæk, Project Director for Rambøll addressed how the specific Nord Stream project has been planned and how the final routing of the pipeline was chosen.
- Jørn Bo Larsen, Chief Advisor and Senior biologist at Rambøll focused on the EIA for the Nord Stream Pipeline.
After the speakers’ presentations the seminar concluded with a panel-debate and a Q&A-session between the panel and the audience. Moderator Anna Libak, Editor at Weekendavisen, facilitated the dialogue, which provided great insights about the future of the Baltic Sea and the future of offshore infrastructure projects. After the seminar Nord Stream hosted an informal networking lunch.
“This Seminar has shown that the knowledge acquired during the environmental surveys could definitely be useful to other similar projects, specifically the Fehmarn Belt Link. A large scale infrastructure project like Nord Stream offers a unique knowledge and experience, which I find is important to document and share”, said Jørgen Erik Larsen, DHI after the seminar.
“The seminar has been extremely interesting and versatile, covering several key aspects of the project so far. It is interesting to see that it is not only the environment that has been addressed but also the safety issues, which are closely related in offshore projects”, added Peter Blach, Offshore Center Danmark.
