It takes a daring attitude to invest €4.5m in a 410m quay length, suited for oversized cargos, when one’s annual turnover does not exceed €600,000. The Port of Rama did exactly that two years ago, in anticipation of the Butendiek wind farm project starting just 40km from the port. The port’s Md Kristen Zedergaard is aware that, so far, the port had seen little wind energy related activities, “but we expect a lot to happen in 2013.”

The port of R0m0 is a small port but with big ambitions. “We don’t have much choice other than to be ambitious”, admits Mr Nedergaard, “as our regular sources of income from fishing and a ferry route are drying up. In such case there are only two options: to minimize one’s organisation according to the existing market developments or to go and look elsewhere for new ventures. Rather than looking eastwards, we chose to focus on opportunities in the North Sea. We found that the isle of R0m0 and its port are ideally situated for German wind farms and are, as such, ideally located to become a base port for offshore wind energy related activities.”