Two technical visits are proposed to the participants on the 6th October. Please select only one tour as they are planned at the same time.
- Technical Visit #1: Maasvlakte 2 - Future land
- Technical Visit #2: Underground research laboratory HADES and deep geothermal power plant (Mol, Belgium)
Note: Pre-registration online is mandatory and the number of participants is limited for each visit. Places are offered on a first-come-first-served basis. Transportation will be provided.
You can register for these tours on the conference registration form. These visits are included in the registration fee.
Technical visit to Maasvlakte 2 - one of Europe's major container ports and renewable energy hubs
Maximum number of participants = 60
The Port of Rotterdam's landmark port development Maasvlakte 2 will be visited, a major port which is constantly under development. Here, you will find some of the most modern container terminals and largest seagoing vessels in the world, and you will also see the latest offshore developments, including the deployment of major wind energy developments.
You will learn about the project from an introductory speaker and an exclusive boat trip, as well as visiting the FutureLand exhibition. FutureLand offers a wide range of attractions, including the Future Flight Experience, a 3D computer simulation giving a bird's eye view of how the Maasvlakte 2 project will look in 2033.
Visitors will also have the chance to see several dredgers at work at the site, which saw its first material pumped ashore in January. Since then five to 10 dredgers at a time have been busy rainbowing sand to create new land for the port.
Technical Visit to Mol, Belgium. Visit the underground research laboratory HADES and the deep geothermal power plant (Balmatt)
Maximum number of participants = 60
HADES is a dedicated subsurface research laboratory, constructed with the aim to investigate Boom Clay formations for the disposal of radioactive waste. It is located at a depth of over 200m and hosts a range of large scale experiments, which have been used to investigate the potential of geological disposal of radioactive waste. You will visit an exhibition on the HADES facility and then descend over 200m into the laboratory. Here you will receive a personalised tour and gain insight into how such facilities can ensure safe disposal of radioactive waste, and have provided major insights into geomechanics of clays.
At an adjacent site, VITO, the Flemish Institute for technological research, drilled the geothermal project Balmatt, starting in 2015. In a first well, the top of the Lower Carboniferous Carbonate reservoir was reached at 3174 m depth. Increased transmissivity was found along a fault. A second injection well was installed in March 2016, and deviated from the vertical, in order to keep enough distance from the first well in the reservoir. In December 2017, a third well was drilled, targeting the same faulted zone as the first well. This 4235 m deep well reached the Devonian strata. You will visit the site, view the drilling locations and gain information on the subsurface, the drilling operations and subsequent operation, including the current investigations on induced seismicity.
Participants registering for the visit will receive detailed joining instructions from the Conference Secretariat in due time.