ABP Head of Operations for Grimsby & Immingham Steve Williams in the new warehouse (image courtesy of ABP/David Lee Photography
A new warehouse with a range of environmental features has been built at Associated British Ports’ (ABP) Port of Immingham in order to provide increased storage space for the wide range of customers that use the port for bulk cargoes.
The building, which represents an investment of £2.3 million, forms part of ABP’s strategy to provide increased and improved bulk storage to meet customer needs and increasing demand.
The warehouse has taken just six months to build and offers an additional 3, 600 m2 of high-quality bulk storage, which is split into two 1, 800 m2 bays. It also benefits from a number of features which will help ABP meet its environmental and efficiency targets.
The southern roof features a solar array, which will be used to generate around 156, 000 kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity per year. This will be used to power the building and any excess electricity will be utilised elsewhere on the port estate. The power generated by the array equates to a CO₂ saving of over 85, 000 kg each year.
LED lighting has also been used throughout the building to help to cut down on light pollution and costs. State-of-the-art carbon monoxide and fire monitoring equipment has also been installed, along with ventilation cowls, fast-acting doors and flood-resistant personnel doors.
Head of Operations at the Port of Grimsby & Immingham Steve Williams explains how the new warehouse will benefit the business.
“Our bulk cargoes business is growing and we needed to provide additional storage space to accommodate that increasing demand, ” said Steve. “Our engineers worked with the contractor, Topcon Construction Ltd, to develop a building that would offer a range of benefits as well as the space required to service our customers, so we can increase efficiency and productivity, while meeting our environmental targets.
ABP Port Director Humber John Fitzgerald added: “This initiative neatly combines two of the strategic pillars twe’ve established to develop our business further.
“Providing additional infrastructure in a sustainable way demonstrates ABP’s commitment to supporting the economic development of the region, whilst ensuring that development is managed in a way that minimises any impact on our neighbours.”
ABP is the UK’s leading ports operator with 21 ports and other transport related businesses creating a unique national network capable of handling a vast array of cargo.
Around one quarter of the UK’s seaborne trade passes through ABP’s Statutory Harbour Areas. ABP contributes £5.6 billion to the UK economy every year and supports 84, 000 jobs. Our current investment programme promises to deliver an extra £1.75 billion for the economy every year.
ABP…
- · Handled over 1.5 million vehicles in 2013.
- · Generates around one quarter of the UK’s rail freight
- · Has 1.4 million square metres of covered storage
- · Has 1000 hectares of open storage
- · Handled 119m tonnes of cargo in 2013
- · Owns 5000 hectares of port estate
- · Has 87km of quay
Over the next five years, ABP is investing over £650 million in a wide range of major projects across the group.
ABP Humber
The four ports of Grimsby, Immingham, Hull and Goole handle more than 65 million tonnes of cargo between them each year.
Grimsby and Immingham form the UK’s busiest trading gateway and move around 54 million tonnes of cargo per annum.
£130-plus million is currently being invested in the biomass handling terminal in Immingham, in a Humber-wide agreement with Drax Power Ltd that has seen £25 million invested in a biomass handling facility in Hull. The Immingham Renewable Fuels Terminal handles sustainable biomass shipments and will create over 100 permanent jobs once complete. The construction phase has also created 100 employment opportunities.
The Port of Hull handles 10 million tonnes of cargo per annum and is the is the focal point for the development of the UK’s largest offshore wind turbine construction, assembly, and service facility, which will be located on the Port’s Alexandra Dock. This new facility, coupled with a new rotor blade manufacturing base near Paull to the east of the port estate, represents a £310 million investment and could create up to 1000 direct jobs.
The Grimsby River Terminal represents an investment of £26 million and allows large car-carrying ships to berth outside the Port’s lock system. This development confirms the Port’s position as the UK’s leading automotive handling facility.
More than the equivalent of 1million teus (twenty foot equivalent unit) of unitised trade is shipped through ABP Humber ports.
Ro-ro and container traffic represents more than 30 sailings a week to Europe, Scandinavia the Baltic and beyond.
The Humber ports handle more than 70 freight train movements per day.
Goole is situated 50 miles upriver and is the UK’s premier inland port. It handles over two million tonnes of cargo annually.
