Katwijk council overjoyed and concerned by arrival of $3 bil. Eli Lilly factory

The Katwijk city council believes that the arrival of the major American pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly “offers a lot of great opportunities,” but also has concerns about the pharmaceutical factory being built in Katwijk.

Eli Lilly is building a production facility for $3 billion (over €2.5 billion), which will create 500 jobs. The city council wanted to know from Alderman Gerard Mostert what this means for, among other things, the pressure on the electricity supply grid, the financial risks for Katwijk, and the distribution of housing.”

Despite the electricity grid in Katwijk being “full” (grid congestion), the alderman believes that the factory can be connected without any problems. Eli Lilly will take over the large-scale electricity connection for the greenhouses currently located on the proposed construction site. “And if necessary, they will use gas turbines to generate their own electricity. So there will be no extra load on the existing grid.”

Eli Lilly, one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world, announced in early November that it was establishing a presence in Katwijk. “We’ve landed a huge fish, hallelujah,” said one of the city councilors on Thursday.

But there are also concerns about how quickly Eli Lilly wants to push through the permit process. “Everyone who comes here must comply with Dutch laws and regulations regarding water, nature, nitrogen, and waste streams,” Mostert stressed. “Even an American company like Eli Lilly.”

According to the alderman, the arrival of the factory will, among other things, create jobs and develop the entire region. Housing will also be built, and the national, provincial, and municipal governments will allocate funds to improve accessibility.

“A $3 billion investment like this isn’t something we see every week in Katwijk. In fact, it hasn’t happened anywhere else in the Netherlands in recent years,” Mostert said.