Deliveries to Strathy North Completed
Our Team have been situated in the Scottish Highlands busy delivering SSE’s Strathy North Wind Farm in Sutherland.
This latest development of 33 MM82 turbines consists of more than 200 individual components and Senvion called upon the expertise of Collett to facilitate ship’s discharge, storage, heavy transport and delivery of the entire project. Thirteen ships were expected at the Port of Scrabster arriving from Cambeltown, Portugal and Germany all carrying the towers, nacelles, hubs and blade components required for each turbine. A huge undertaking with a 16 week deadline for all deliveries, the project required a significant amount of planning, not to mention the number of vehicles, trailers and Collett staff required to facilitate the project.
With the first ship expected at the beginning of February the fleet was mobilised and we hit the road, destined for Scrabster. As the first ship arrived at Port we set to work, carefully unloading to an agreed laydown plan, ensuring ease of access to each component for their strict delivery schedule. As the ships arrived, the trailers departed, leaving the port and heading towards the wind farm.
Three deliveries were planned per day, dependent on weather and shipping schedules, and SSE requested that no delivery was to leave the Port of Scrabster before 9am to avoid any unnecessary disruption on the roads at peak times. Each travelled the 21 mile journey from the Port, arriving at the Baligill entrance and was delivered directly to the relevant pad site.
Continuing throughout February, March, April and May, one by one the ships arrived, the components for each of the wind turbines were safely unloaded, transported and delivered to pad site. Four months and 264 deliveries later, all components are now safely on site. Since the first ship arrived in February at the Port of Scrabster, our Team have handled 99 blades, 99 tower sections, 33 hubs and 33 nacelles. As a result the 33 wind turbines at Strathy North Wind Farm are now under the final stages of construction and expected to be operational by the end of 2015.
From beginning to end the Collett Team expertly oversaw the project, managing all components direct from ship to pad site, undertaking all port agency, contract lift, ship’s agency and discharge, storage, handling, transport and delivery. The entire operation involved seven tractor units and eighteen trailers, not to mention the support vehicles and the army of Collett staff, whilst the jigsaw puzzle of delivering the components to the site was undertaken.
Another fine example of effective project management performed by the Collett Team!
