SSE Renewables and Vestas share plans for wind turbine component convoys

Vestas, which is supplying the 103 wind turbines which make up the wind farm, is responsible for safely managing the process of getting the components from their factories to Lerwick and then delivering them from there to the Viking site.

Robert Yeates, Lead Project Manager with Vestas, said: “To transport equipment of this size and weight requires specialist vehicles and expertise, so we have contracted McFadyen’s Transport Ltd, a specialist haulage company based in Scotland with several years’ experience of safely transporting wind turbine components, to carry out the work.

“Obviously safety is our paramount concern and with that in mind, I am pleased that the convoys will be escorted by specialist Police Scotland officers who are coming from the mainland. We are looking forward to completing the transportation safely and with the minimum of disruption to Shetlanders and visitors alike.”

SSE Renewables’ Aaron Priest, Stakeholder Manager for the Viking wind farm, stated: “The arrival of the turbine components is obviously a landmark milestone in the construction of the wind farm. With more than 1000 parts to be transported, it is no small task and we are pleased to have support from Police Scotland and Shetland Islands Council for completing the task safely and with the minimum of disruption.

“We would like to thank everyone in the local community for their patience over the next few months and we will do everything we can to keep them informed and updated on the convoy movements.”

The first turbines at the Viking wind farm site are scheduled to be erected at the end of March. The wind turbine component convoys are expected to conclude by July.

Convoy timing details

• There will be up to three convoys per day, six days a week (Mon – Sat) with up to four wind turbine components per convoy.
• Convoy travel time is estimated to be approximately one hour from leaving the port to entering the site.
• The times the convoys are expected to leave the port on weekdays (Mon – Fri) are between: 6am – 7am, 11am – 12 noon, 1pm – 2pm.
• The times the convoys are expected to leave the port on Saturdays are between: 6am – 7am, 10am – 11am, 12 noon – 2pm.

The timing of the movements has also been planned to seek to ensure that the early morning convoy will be off the public highway by 8am and the mid-afternoon convoy will be off the public highway by 3pm to avoid the relevant peak travel periods.

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