TAQA decommissions installation Oude Helderseweg, Alkmaar

Gas production in Alkmaar region ends after 50 years

TAQA’s gas treatment plant at the Oude Helderseweg in Alkmaar (located between the N9 and the Noordhollandskanaal) will make way for new housing. After more than 50 years, we have ceased production of natural gas in the Alkmaar area.

Dismantling the plant is about to start. It is a big project that will take about a year.

‘Structures and installations at the site have to be removed. When the site is empty, the land will be thoroughly remediated, where necessary, and made ready for housing development,’ said TAQA managing director René Zwanepol.

Around Alkmaar, gas was extracted from small fields in Bergen aan Zee, Groet and Schermer since 1974. This gas was transported via underground pipelines to the plant at the Oude Helderseweg where it was made suitable for delivery to the national gas network.

The decommissioning of pipelines and wells elsewhere in the region will be done at a later stage. ‘Our priority now is to clear the Oude Helderseweg site so that the municipality of Alkmaar can proceed with its plans to build new homes in 2026,’ Zwanepol said.

Local residents and other interested parties can follow the progress of the work at the Oude Helderseweg via the online platform Bouwapp.

Besides being a producer of gas, TAQA also owns and operates two underground gas storage facilities on the Boekelermeer industrial estate: the Peak Gas Installation Alkmaar and Gas Storage Bergermeer.

‘These facilities remain important to ensure that there is sufficient gas in stock, especially now that the Netherlands is increasingly dependent on gas from abroad. TAQA will therefore remain active in Alkmaar, even now that gas production has stopped,’ Zwanepol said.