Posted on October 20, 2025
In Antwerp we contributed to a 1,288-metre passage beneath the river Scheldt that will carry energy recovered from waste incineration on the left bank to companies on the right bank. Flemish Minister for Energy and Climate Melissa Depraetere visited the site on Tuesday 14 October to inaugurate this technical achievement.
Waste-to-energy
ECLUSE is an industrial steam network that valorises energy from the waste-to-energy plants of Indaver in Doel. The network is currently supplying steam to five companies on the left bank of the Waasland Port.
Together with Denys and K-Boringen, we built the longest microtunnel in Belgium to transport this energy from the left bank to its first customer on the right bank.
The tunnel is 1,288 metres long and has an internal diameter of three metres.
38,000 households
Once operational, this energy connection will enable its first customer, the chemistry company Evonik, to save an amount of energy equivalent to the annual use of more than 38,000 households. Emissions will decrease by 100,000 to 150,000 tons of CO₂ per year—an important step toward a low-carbon energy supply for the Port of Antwerp.
Our scope of work
Caitlin Lommaert, Site Supervisor for Jan De Nul at Ecluse:
We carried out all preparatory and concrete works around the tunnel, focusing mainly on the launch and reception shafts. On the right bank, the launch shaft has a diameter of 15 metres and a depth of 16 metres. On the left bank, the reception shaft measures 11.8 metres in diameter and 14 metres deep. The diaphragm walls were constructed by Soetaert. To counter the upward water pressure, we installed reinforced underwater concrete plugs. In addition, we executed extensive concrete works for the temporary thrust blocks, launch blocks, and reception blocks.
