Associated British Ports is to provide storage in Hull for Siemens Gamesa turbine blades destined for the 1218MW Hornsea 1 offshore wind farm off the east coast of England.
Siemens Gamesa has leased for 12 months a 2.5-hectare area at the Port of Hull’s eastern access on King George Dock to store 37 blades, which are each 75 metres long and weigh 30 tonnes.
The blades will be transported just over 3km from the manufacturer’s factory at Alexandra Dock to the storage site using a remote-controlled loader, ABP said.
It added that each blade takes about 1 hour and 15 minutes to move during the early hours of the morning to cause minimal disruption to port traffic.
ABP Humber head of property David Morriss said: “We’re proud to be able to say that we have been an essential link in a major green project such as this, which will eventually see the blades powering one-million homes.
“It’s also another example of our expertise in handling such large and specialist components.
“We have worked closely with Siemens Gamesa to offer solutions and to support their business growth, so that together as partners, we can keep Britain trading and provide the nation with environmentally-friendly power.”
Siemens Gamesa factory director Anton Bak said: “Siemens Gamesa is delighted to again be working with ABP, continuing a ground-breaking partnership in Humberside.
“To deliver clean, green energy to millions of UK households is a complex team effort, and ABP is a crucial member of that team.”