First fully electric directional drilling
PWN and A.Hak
PWN and A.Hak install drinking water transport pipeline from Heemskerk to Wijk aan Zee in the most sustainable way.
On Tuesday, October 22, PWN and A.Hak achieved a milestone: The first fully electric drilling of a drinking water transport pipeline was completed at that moment. At 7:00 PM, we saw the drill head emerge, which meant the drilling was successful. With this, PWN has taken an important step in its sustainability ambitions. The goal is to be completely CO2-neutral by 2050.
Where was the pipeline installed?
The drinking water transport pipeline in question was installed on the PWN site in Heemskerk. The pipeline was pulled from production location Jan Lagrand to drinking water production location Wim Mensink in Wijk aan Zee.
What exactly is it?
The drilling that PWN and A.Hak performed is officially called HDD (Horizontal Directional Drilling). This is an installation method where the pipeline is pulled through a borehole from ground level while completely preserving the surface. Above ground, only an entry and exit point are visible. The drilling was performed electrically due to sustainability ambitions, but also to prevent nitrogen deposition on the surrounding dune area. We are also working to improve nature conservation goals in the European protected nature area managed by PWN.
Why is PWN doing this?
PWN is working hard to increase drinking water production capacity. This is necessary because the population in North Holland is growing and thus the demand for drinking water. To realize the capacity increase, PWN is building an additional drinking water production location in Heemskerk. The water produced at this new location must be further purified into drinking water at our current drinking water production location in Wijk aan Zee. To transport the water from Heemskerk to Wijk aan Zee, the relevant 1-kilometer-long transport pipeline was installed. For the first time, PWN performed the installation of such a large pipeline completely electrically. This was done in collaboration with A.Hak, which deployed one of the few electric drilling rigs (150t HDD-rig) available in Europe for this purpose.
Facts & Figures
- This is the very first fully electric drilling for PWN.
- This new steel pipeline has a diameter of 800mm and is drilled over a length of approximately 1,050m.
- PWN’s transport pipeline network consists of a total of 824,581 meters.
- On average, this new pipeline will transport between 1,800 and 2,150m³ per hour of water from production location Jan Lagrand to production location Mensink.
- All welding work for this project was also performed completely electrically.
