All the project cargo for Namibia’s first commercial wind farm, which is nearing completion outside Lüderitz Bay, was successfully handled by the port itself. The first consignment of the Innosun wind turbine project arrived in the Port of Lüderitz on the Beautriumph on January 24, according to Taná Pesat, Namport manager of corporate communications. The cargo operations started the next morning, with the vessel being unloaded by noon on the following day. During the 12-hour operation 700 tons of equipment was offloaded. This consisted of four nacelles (the cover housing of the wind turbine), nine blades and four generators weighing 70 tons each. Namport equipment included a 64-ton mobile harbour crane, two reach stackers, one 25-ton forklift and a seven-ton forklift. The second vessel carrying the remainder of the cargo for the project was the Constellation, which berthed in Lüderitz on May 23.
The 80-metre-high towers, 45-metre (9-ton) blades and 90-ton turbines were offloaded using tandem lifting to ensure safety, according to Pesat. The wind farm is positioned on the mountains outside Lüderitz and has changed the skyline and face of Lüderitz, according to InnoSun project manager Jan-Barend Scheepers. InnoSun is a Namibian-registered company owned by Namibian and French shareholders. Ombepo Wind Park – the new wind farm – is also partly owned by the Lüderitz Town Council with a 5% stake. The turbines will be able to meet the current power needs of Lüderitz Bay. The completion of the project and assembling the towers on site will take place within the next 30 days, according to Scheepers. InnoSun has further projects scheduled for another wind farm at Elizabeth Bay Mine south of Lüderitz Bay for Namdeb later this year. “InnoSun looks forward to opening a bigger wind farm in the Lüderitz area as the environmental impact study is being finalised and will be opened towards the end of 2017,” he says.
The 80-metre-high towers, 45-metre (9-ton) blades and 90-ton turbines were offloaded using tandem lifting to ensure safety.
