Electrical department of KH Engineering in the spotlight

Editie04_Electrical_content2DURK AARTSMA

How do you connect a wind farm at sea to the Dutch electricity grid? How do we ensure that vital ICT infrastructure continues to work 24/7? The Electrical Department of KH Engineering knows a thing or two about this. With almost 40 people across the three KH branches, these departments work on projects that are literally under high voltage. And low voltage too, if necessary. With some of their projects, they contribute to the energy transition.

Senior Lead Engineer Durk Aartsma is one of the engineers. They work from Schiedam, Amsterdam or Antwerp. ‘I have been working in electrical engineering for over forty years', says Durk. ‘I finished intermediate vocational education (mts), which is what many electrical engineers of my generation did back then. Yet I see this changing. Because the profession itself has become more and more substantive and challenging, the level of education is rising along with it. Until a few years ago, most people coming to work here were graduates of higher vocational education; nowadays, more and more young people who come to work here have studied at the Technical University.’

Social challenge

The projects Durk and the Electrical teams work on are very diverse. The similarity: designing electrical infrastructure for (industrial) companies, governments and energy network managers. From feasibility studies to detailed engineering and supervision during implementation and commissioning. ‘I personally find it wonderful to see how we as a company have developed from a "drawing office" to a fully-fledged engineering office with highly trained employees who can handle the most complex projects,' says Durk. ‘And that we are helping to realise an important social challenge: energy transition.’

Electrification

Editie04_Electrical_content

Energy transition involves a great deal of electrification. Processes that previously used oil, coal or natural gas are all switching to other energy sources and raw materials, and electrification is crucial in this process. KH Engineering has contributed to this process by designing primary, secondary or tertiary installations for 150kV and 380kV high-voltage substations. Examples include the 150/36kV high-voltage substation at a refinery site in Antwerp, the 150kV Rijswijk substation and the 380kV Maasvlakte open-air installation. Two more such projects are currently underway at the department.

An impressive project in which KH Engineering collaborated for the secondary installations and the integration of high-voltage systems are the literally colossal ‘Offshore High Voltage Substations BSA & BSB'. These can be seen as ‘power points at sea', connecting the electricity generated by offshore wind turbines to the electricity grid on land. 

Bright future

Due to the increasing demand for electrification, Durk foresees a bright future for the Electrical department. ‘The energy transition has major consequences for the entire energy infrastructure. Changes are needed in generation, distribution, the infrastructure between stations, and the stations themselves. So there's plenty of work to be done!’

Services of the Electrical engineering department

  • Conceptual design
  • Basic Engineering
  • Detailed Engineering
  • High-voltage installations
  • Construction supervision.