Energy Captain Runs Port of Antwerp

Jacques Vandermeiren has been appointed CEO of Antwerp Port Authority as of January 1, 2017. Vandermeiren is a local man which will help his cause, but he has no experience of cargo transport nor in logistics. He trained as a lawyer and spent most of his career in the energy sector, initially at power producer-supplier and natural gas supplier Electrabel.

Jacques Vandermeiren (image credit: elia.be)

The port plays a prominent role in the European development of LNG bunkering for vessels and in tanking infrastructure for compressed natural gas (CNG). But the port has undertaken studies into the possibility of using waste residual heat generated by some of the port's industrial plants to heat buildings, as an alternative for natural gas (that still might be the source of a part of the residual heat). Because of the high investment it takes to build a heat grid, the heat suppliers and consumers need long term engagement.

Energy background

When Belgium forced the legal split up of energy production and supply from its transport and distribution, Vandermeiren joined Elia, the newly founded company operating the Belgian electricity transport grid. In 2012, he became Elia's CEO but left suddenly in 2015. 

Vandermeiren's main co-contender for the Antwerp job – according to several sources – was Antwerp alderman and full-time politician Koen Kennis. Similar to Vandermeiren he has an energy background. Kennis acts as a board member in the power and gas distribution grid operator Eandis, in the federation of grid operators Intermixt, in Publi-T – the company that manages the public authorities' shares in Elia – and in Vito, a research institute mainly active in renewable energy.

The experience Vandermeiren gained while at Elia will be useful for his new job in the port of Antwerp, which has a complex stakeholder management and requires him to deal with mainly public shareholders. Vandermeiren has already confirmed that he intends to assure "the rich history of the port of Antwerp in a sustainable way."

Koen Mortelmans