November 1 - Moving 75 tonne nacelle units from a ship to a specialist vehicle took some delicate touches from PD Ports' stevedoring team at the Port of Immingham.
"The handling operation required extreme care as the nacelles were manufactured from lightweight materials and the team needed to use guide-wires for the precision movement onto the vehicles," says Jerry Hopkinson, PD Ports'managing director, bulks, ports and logistics.
The five units were destined for a site near Mansfield which will form part of a new five turbine wind farm expected to generate 9MW of power, equivalent to the domestic electricity needs of about 5,000 average UK households.
These nacelles arrived in Immingham in the open hold of the ship Golo River which had loaded the cargo in Northern Spain.
PD Ports, which operates the terminal at Immingham and also owns Teesport and Hartlepool, says it is building an expertise in handling cargo for both onshore and offshore wind farms.
It is promoting the concept of an energy hub in the north-east and has recently worked with other local companies to launch Chain Reaction: Teesside's Renewable Energy Supply Chain Cluster. The group says that Teesside has the land, the skilled engineers and the motivation to create a national - or even international - centre of excellence in the renewable energy sector.
