Precise logistics for an oversized shipment

Offshore wind turbines

(Extract from the magazine for the Port of Nantes, St Nazaire – n° 75 – March 2012)

THE FIRST ITEMS REQUIRED FOR ALSTOM’S OFFSHORE WIND TURBINE PROTOTYPE HAVE BEEN DELIVERED TO THE CARNET SITE. THIS REPRESENTS A REAL LOGISTIC CHALLENGE WHICH ILLUSTRATES THE KNOW-HOW OF THE PLAYERS INVOLVED AT THE PORT OF NANTES, SAINT-NAZAIRE (HEADED BY SOGEBRAS AND SCALÈS) IN THE HANDLING OF HEAVY PACKAGES AND THE ORGANISER OF THE TRANSPORT GROUP, THE DEPARTMENT FOR INDUSTRIAL PROJECTS IN FRANCE OF RHENUS LOGISTICS (FORMER WINCANTON MONDIA). THE FEAT IS PRESENTED HERE IN PICTURES.

The base measures 20 m wide and 27 m high and is made from 400 tonnes of steel. Work began on the foundations for the offshore wind turbine demonstrator designed by Alstom(1), manufactured on the STX France sites, at the beginning of December on the Le Carnet site. The columns from Belgium were delivered earlier on Scalès trailers between 30 November and 2 December. Maritime and river transport from northern Europe and Saint-Nazaire was organised on a barge managed by Rhenus Logistics.

The shipment of the jacket required faultless logistics from its transfer to Saint-Nazaire on 9 December to its delivery the next day to Le Carnet. Everything had been planned several months in advance with the port authorities and the different players involved. The road structures, electrical networks and railway links were studied in detail over the total distance of around 600 m. A video and laser survey was even carried out on the route. “This 3D model of the itinerary carried out in partnership with the company Via3D was used to locate precisely the limiting points in terms of structure”, points of Alain Leblanc, head of the port authorities for land-based transport infrastructures at the Grand Port Maritime (GPM) of Nantes, Saint-Nazaire.

Positioned on four hydraulic trailers, the jacket was brought out through door 4 of area 2 of the Saint-Nazaire dock. The extra-long load was then transported along the Penhoët dock to the Charbonniers loading ramp. The nautical manoeuvres required the skills of pilots, coasting pilots, a pushing tub from the Compagnie Ligérienne de Transport (CLT) and Boluda tugs. There was one particular constraint: the delivery to Le Carnet could only be made at high tide. The coordination between the port and the consignment of the barge and the vessel were managed by Sogebras on behalf of Rhenus Logistics, the forwarding agent for Alstom Wind.
The blades (74.5 m long and weighing 30 tonnes) were shipped from northern Europe on a highly specific coaster and delivered directly to Le Carnet at high tide on 27 January. The crane was supplied by Sarens and the dock-work was carried out by employees of Sogebras. During the construction phase, the nacelle will be shipped around the middle of March 2012. “The players involved in logistics in the Loire estuary offer all the skills required for this type of operation,” concludes Philippe Léon, head of the regional planning and development department of GPM. “We have access both to the necessary infrastructures and know-how to deal with the handling and receipt of oversized shipments”.

(1)Haliade 150 is the name of the first new generation wind turbine at sea constructed in France. With a power of 6 MW, it will be capable of supplying electricity to an equivalent of approximately 5,000 households.

Arrival by barge of the items required for the mast of the Le Carnet prototype.