February 22 - ALE has completed the delivery of 560 wind turbine components for the Amakhala Emoyeni wind farm project in the Eastern Cape of South Africa.
The 56 Nordex wind turbines consisted of ten components each, including three blades, a nacelle, a rotor hub, a drivetrain and four tower sections - all of the components ranged in weight and dimensions, with the longest blades measuring 57.5 m. The company delivered two turbines a week to the wind farm site.
ALE says that it was the first company in South Africa to make use of a new laydown area at the Port of Nqura, where the components arrived on eight multipurpose vessels.
On arrival at the port, ALE transported the components to a temporary storage area and then onto the site, which is located 250 km away in Amakhala, Bedford, before offloading the components at the final destination.
ALE supplied two mobile cranes and one telehandler for the port operations and site offloading, as well as ten specialised trailers and 20 escort vehicles for the overland transport.
"During the project we faced the challenge of negotiating the Olifantskop pass. As the lanes were too narrow for traffic in both directions, the traffic police had to close the pass for oncoming traffic for two hours in the morning. This meant that we had to overcome any potential delays," added ALE project manager Zayno Myburgh.
