Collett Transport supports wind power

Drumlins Park wind farm in Ireland has received 88 wind turbine components thanks to Collett Transport. Specialising in wind turbine logistics, the team transported blade and tower sections of eight new GE 158RD turbines. 

Before tackling the project with full loads, Collett trialled the routes to assess the suitability for this type of transport. This gave the team time to arrange for tree pruning and adjustments to street furniture to make sure the vehicles and loads were able to travel these routes safely and efficiently. 

To handle this project, Collett assigned a team of eight including a project manager, three drivers, three escort vehicle drivers and a tow truck driver. Edwin Sunderland at Exceptional Load Services assisted the team in securing the required permits and coordinating with Garda escorts. 

To transport the components Collett used super wing carriers for the 65m long blades, flattop trailers were used for 15m long blade tips and tower clamp trailers for various tower sections. The longest part was 28m and the heaviest base component was 62 tonnes. 

Reducing the impact on local traffic, components were transported overnight from Belview Port in Waterford to Drumlins Park, 1 mile south of Newbliss in County Monaghan. The 199 mile journey took nine hours in total including driver’s breaks. After departing at 7pm, the vehicles were accompanied by the escort fleet and local Garda escort. 

The wind farm is still under construction and is run by Energia Renewables, part of Energia Group. The group has more than 16 wind farm sites across Ireland and Northern Ireland which generate over 350MW of green electricity annually. The Drumlins Park site is expected to be up and running in 2024. It’s expected to generate 49MW of renewable energy which can power around 34,000 Irish households and offset 58,000 tonnes of CO2 annually.