Annual Report 2022

Timely dredging avoids siltation and flooding and ensures a smooth passage for ships. Dredging works, however, involve high costs and not all governments are able or willing to bear them. A concession agreement offers an interesting way out. What exactly does such an agreement entail and how does it create win-win situations for all parties involved?

One of the biggest challenges for densely populated countries is to maintain the balance between people and nature. It is essential not to carve out new unbuilt areas for residential, industrial or recreational purposes. In the port of Ghent, we are redeveloping almost 150 acres of abandoned and polluted industrial sites.

The switch to renewable energy is in full swing. Jan De Nul already helped building several offshore wind farms in different continents. One of those wind farms is located in the Taiwan Strait, where heavy shipping traffic and the natural environment provided extra challenges.

For 10 years now, we have been putting our full weight behind the offshore cable industry. With numerous investments, we have built a leading fleet, a wide range of services and unrivalled expertise. The result: today we are the world's largest independent offshore cable installer. Dive into this booming market with two pioneers from our cable team.

Annual beach nourishment works must protect our coast from the changing climate and rising sea levels. In carrying out these works, Jan De Nul focuses on maximum sustainability. As a pioneer in this field, we are pushing the ambitions within both the industry and public authorities.

Liveable, affordable and sustainable residential areas are becoming increasingly scarce. Our property developer PSR is breaking this negative spiral. In Liège, we convert a historic city part into the new eco-neighbourhood Rives Ardentes. In the Kempen region, and old furniture factory is undergoing a metamorphosis into a rural and lively neighbourhood.

In 1938, we carried out our first civil construction project. Today, 85 years later, we are still the same we were then: with a no-nonsense approach and we-can-do-this mentality, we ensure that clients can rest easy. From design, remediation and construction to financing, maintenance and energy management: we have an extensive specialist team ready for every phase.

The storm surge barrier in Nieuwpoort protects Belgium's coastline from severe storms. In 2022, we continued the works for realising this ingenious structure: we built the concrete sill that must be placed on the seabed between the abutments in the port of Antwerp, 105 km away. One major challenge: how do you transport such a colossus? Our engineers made the seemingly impossible possible.

With 11 million km² of sea area, France has the second largest sea area in the world after the United States. A unique opportunity to embark on the much-needed energy transition. France and the energy market commit to installing a total offshore wind power capacity of 40 GW by 2050. Jan De Nul rolled up its sleeves and installed France's very first turbines at sea.