The vessel BBC India arrived at the Port's Berth 8 dock in mid-March to deliver turbine components for the Klondike III Wind Farm owned by PPM Energy in Sherman County, Oregon. Shipments received earlier in the year from Pohang, Korea included all of the tower sections for the Klondike project.
The BBC India shipment contained turbine components for 22 of the 44, 2.3 megawatt turbines in the Klondike farm. According to Siemens, they are the largest land turbines in operation. A second shipment will deliver the remaining 22 turbines to the Port in April.
Turbine components for the Klondike farm were manufactured by Siemens in Denmark and include blades, nacelles, hubs, spinners, power units and containers of assembly hardware. The longest component is the blade, at 148 feet, and the heaviest is the nacelle, at 87 tons. According to Siemens, the Port of Longview is the only port in the nation to move turbine blades across a dock with a transporter and dolly system. The system was custom built by the Port, based on drawings provided by Siemens.
'Siemens is excited to be working with the Port of Longview,' said Clare Bertel, Wind Transportation Coordinator for Siemens. 'We recognize and value professionalism, experience and technical expertise, all present at the Port of Longview, and look forward to a successful partnership.'
In late March, trucks hired by Siemens will pick up both towers and turbine components from the Port's storage yard and deliver them to the Klondike III Wind Farm construction site. According to Siemens, 15 trucks are needed to transport one complete turbine. The Port plans to load towers and turbine components onto trucks at the rate of 15 per day, six days per week.
In order to accommodate Siemens' business, as well as other customers' wind energy cargo, the Port secured an additional nine acres of storage yard, made infrastructure improvements and purchased new Hyster forklifts. A Kalmar Reach Stacker, purchased by the Port in 2005, has been used extensively to load tower and turbine components. The Port's 2007 capital improvement budget also includes the potential purchase of a new mobile harbor crane.
According to Port officials, the increase in wind energy cargo shipments can be attributed to Congressional approval of the Production Tax Credit (PTC) through December 2008. Also, I-937, approved by voters in Washington State, has contributed to increased wind energy cargo shipments through the Port. This new Washington law requires utility companies to obtain 15% of their power from renewable energy sources by 2020.
The Port's contract with Siemens for 2007 also includes tower and turbine components for the White Creek Wind Project located in Klickitat County, Washington. This project consists of 89, 2.3 megawatt wind turbines. Ships loaded with the towers for this project will begin arriving at the Port in April, with the turbines scheduled to begin delivering in May.
