22 October 2019
The challenge
innogy is one of Germany’s leading energy companies, with a revenue of around €43 billion (2017), more than 42,000 employees and activities in 15 countries across Europe. It is active in three main sectors: Grid & Infrastructure, Retail and Renewables.
In the UK, one of the company’s key markets, innogy is currently constructing the Clocaenog Forest Wind Farm in North Wales. It will have an installed capacity of up to 96 megawatts – enough renewable energy for the equivalent domestic needs of as many as 63,800 average UK households per year.
Each of the 27 turbines to be installed on the site is 145 metres to blade tip – 10 metres more than the London Eye. These had to be safely and securely shipped the North-West of the country, before then being taken overland to the farm location.
The solution
Earlier this year, Peel Ports bought Quality Freight UK, to help with exactly this sort of challenge, further complementing Peel Ports’ existing logistics capabilities.
Quality Freight UK provides chartering and a range of port services operating from its 40-acre multi-modal facility in Ellesmere Port.
It partnered with heavy transport specialist Collett to move the 27 wind turbines to the Clocaenog Forest near Denbigh.
The turbines, which weighed over 12,000 tonnes, were brought into Quality Freight UK’s Ellesmere Port dock on 12 vessels.
In a complex operation, they were then carefully lifted on to trailers for onward delivery to the wind farm.
Sebastian Gardiner, Managing Director of Quality Freight UK, said: “Quality Freight UK’s involvement in this major windfarm project further demonstrates our expertise in the renewables sector
“We have successfully completed a number of project cargo renewables assignments over recent years.
“In this particular case, we were working closely with our client Colletts to ensure that the cargo was delivered on time to their end customer.”