Australian Drilling Attachments

Wind turbines arrive in the Port of Newcastle

Port of Newcastle2
Eight wind turbines have arrived in the Port of Newcastle aboard the vessel MV Erna Oldendorff.
The shipment is the first of eight to arrive between October 2016 and May 2017, bound for the Goldwind White Rock Wind Farm near Glen Innes in the New England Tablelands, New South Wales. The wind turbine blades are the largest to arrive in Australia to date, each measuring 59.5 metres in length.
 
Port of Newcastle’s CEO, Geoff Crowe, said it demonstrates the Port of Newcastle’s capability to import large and heavy cargoes for developments happening around New South Wales.
“The Port of Newcastle will handle 70 wind turbines for Goldwind’s White Rock Project and is well placed to handle more large cargo imports to support wind farm, property, rail and road developments happening around the state,” said Geoff.
 
“The Port’s shipping channel is currently only 50% utilised and we have plenty of large parcels of portside land for cargo storage and preassembly, which reduces the number of times cargo is handled, generating cost savings for cargo owners.
 
“Previous project cargo imports through the Port of Newcastle include a tunnel boring machine for the Sydney north west rail link, locomotives, rail and passenger wagons, mining machinery, large tanks and boilers, transformers and prefabricated structures.”
The cargoes were imported via the Mayfield 4 berth and stored on the Mayfield Site before being transported via truck to Glen Innes.
“This is an exciting milestone for the White Rock Project, and our transport provider will work closely with RMS and the Police to plan the delivery of the cargo via road to the New England Tablelands,” said John Gardner, Vice President of Program Delivery at Goldwind Australia.
 
“Newcastle Port’s proximity to the site and the ability to store the cargo for after-hours transport when the roads are quiet is an advantage. The storage area allows our technicians to prepare the turbines for road transport and deliver them when the site is ready to receive them.”
 
The White Rock Wind Farm is located approximately 20 km west of Glen Innes and 40 km east of Inverell. Stage 1 of the project will consist of 70 turbines and is due to be operational in the latter half of 2017. The Port of Newcastle is the third largest port in Australia by trade volume and handles 25 cargoes.

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