Innovation
PROJECT SCOPE:
The Silverton Wind Farm consisted of 58 GE Renewables 3.4-130 wind turbine generators, situated near Broken Hill in New South Wales. ARES transported all wind turbine components from the Port of Adelaide to site, a distance of 524km one way.
Transported all components for 58 GE turbines across the 524-kilometre route from the Port of Adelaide to Silverton Wind Farm near Broken Hill. Almost 700 deliveries carried blades, towers, nacelles, transformers and supporting cargo into remote regional NSW.
The program combined long-distance transport with complex urban movements and extreme site terrain. Police escorts guided 64-metre blades out of Adelaide, while specialist equipment moved 100-tonne nacelles up the rocky ridgeline, completing approximately 730,000 kilometres across the project.
Components travelled 524 kilometres from the Port of Adelaide to Silverton via Burra, Broken Hill and the Barrier Highway. With almost 700 deliveries required, drivers covered approximately 730,000 kilometres throughout the project.
The 64-metre blades were the longest transported in Australia at the time. This delicate cargo had to be carefully manoeuvred out of Adelaide before beginning the long journey to site under police escort.
Built across steep and rocky terrain, Silverton presented some of the most difficult site conditions encountered by the transport team. Access roads with gradients of up to 22 degrees led to turbine locations along the ridgeline.
The steep final approach had to accommodate nacelles weighing 100 tonnes and tower sections measuring 30 metres long. Specialist trucks and trailers carried each component safely to its installation location at the top.
A 45-tonne Kenworth C500T tow truck known as BIGFOOT provided additional support on the steepest slopes. With 600 horsepower and built specifically for heavy-duty work, it helped tow the largest loads across the challenging site terrain.
Cargo Carried
Each turbine stands 175m tall (base to tip), has 5 tower sections and produces 3.4MW of green power.
The first of a new generation of 60+ metre blades. And ARES were the first to transport them.
The journey took around 8-10 hours, including slowdowns and fatigue breaks.
These include turbine components, towers, blades, transformers and containers.
We are very pleased with ARES and the logistics service they have provided at Biala Wind Farm for WTG transport. Their comprehensive solution covers every key aspect including planning, permitting, vessel discharge, and delivery to site, and the daily operation is well managed by highly skilled professionals. Their performance has been recognised by not only the project team but also our subcontractors. The flexibility and efficiency they have demonstrated throughout the Biala project helped us achieve the target under budget. I trust they will continue with excellent performance on future projects and wish for the next opportunity to work with them again.