Sarens involved in maintenance works at Whitla Wind facility in Alberta
Sarens, a world leader in heavy lifting, engineered transport, and crane rental services, has worked on the maintenance manoeuvres at the Whitla Wind facility, the largest in Alberta. In this case, Sarens’ engineering team was in charge of the lifting of the blades, rotors, gearboxes and main shafts for four turbines (T-79, T-89, T-91 and T-7). The hub height of each tower is measured at 105 m and the average weight of the components came in at 31 t.
This wind farm has an installed capacity of 352.8 MW, which allows it to generate enough energy to power more than 100 000 homes per year. Located in Forty Mile County, it consists of 98 Vestas V136 wind turbines of 3.6 MW each, with a hub height of 105 m and a rotor diameter of 136 m. According to Capital Power, the company that owns and operates the project, Whitla Wind will prevent the emission of more than 1 million tpy of carbon dioxide, which is equivalent to taking more than 200 000 vehicles off the road.
The Whitla Wind project contributes to Canada’s efforts to transition to cleaner, low-carbon energy, so it is therefore particularly important to keep energy production stable by reducing breakdowns through proper maintenance. For this reason, Vestas commissioned Sarens to lead the logistical manoeuvres of transport – via Sarens Trucking from Pincher Creek, AB – and the lifting and lowering of the various parts to reduce downtime and optimise the energy production of the facilities.
Taking into account the variables to be considered, such as component weight, tower height, and access for machinery assembly, the Sarens team of experts selected the Demag CC 2800 Crawler Crane configured with 108 m main boom, 12 m luffing jib, 120 Te Main CWT, 20 Te Carbody CWT, and 110 Te Superlift CWT. This crane was selected because of the height of the towers as this particular configuration would allow for a boom tip height of 120 m while remaining under 75% of the crane’s lifting capacity.
The Whitla plant uses state-of-the-art wind turbines, designed to optimise the utilisation of the wind resource while reducing noise and wear and tear. The turbines are connected to an electrical substation, from where the power is transmitted to the provincial grid via a 240 kV, 34 km high voltage line. The project has a remote control supervision system, which allows the turbines to be monitored and operated from a centralised control centre, ensuring safe and efficient operation. The project has been developed in several phases, with the first phase coming into commercial operation on 1 December 2019 and phases 2 and 3 on 1 December 2021.
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Read the article online at: https://www.energyglobal.com/wind/05012024/sarens-involved-in-maintenance-works-at-whitla-wind-facility-in-alberta/
