Tower sections that will make up General Electric’s (GE) Haliade-X offshore wind turbine have been loaded onto the multipurpose vessel Palmerton at the port of Sevilla, Spain.
The ship, operated by SAL Heavy Lift, docked at the Armamento wharf, next to the facilities of GRI Sevilla, which is teaming up with GE for the construction of the 12 MW wind turbine.
The tower, comprising four sections, will measure 135 m tall and have a diameter of 8 m; including the blades, the wind turbine will reach a total height of 260 m.
The stowage of the components was coordinated with Spanish logistics provider Sevitrade. The cargoes are now on route to the port of Rotterdam, where the prototype turbine will be installed.
John Lavelle, president and ceo of the offshore wind division of GE, said: “The shipment of the wind turbine parts is another important milestone in the development of the prototype Haliade - X 12 MW in Maasvlakte, Rotterdam.”
He added that the GE teams in Cherbourg and Saint-Nazaire, France, are progressing well with the assembly of the turbine and are aiming to have the tower fully installed by the end of summer.
According to Rafael Carmona, president of the Port Authority of Seville, “this type of traffic is increasingly common in the Sevillian port, as it meets the criteria to be a strategic space for the movement of large structures”.
The port has a large area to facilitate the loading and unloading of oversized cargoes, as well as space for manufacturing centres, such as GRI Sevilla’s facilities.
