Sarens has been involved in the installation of the 83 new wind turbines on 17,500 acres of land near Lomond, in Alberta.
This project contributes to Canada's efforts to transition to cleaner, low-carbon energy as it’s important to keep increasing the capacity of clean energy production to help Canada to become a more energy stable country.
The new Buffalo Plains Wind Farm project, being developed in Alberta, is nearer to the commercial operation date (COD) when the facility will start to generate power. This project is proposed to deliver 494 megawatts (MW) of clean energy capacity to the Alberta Interconnected Electric System, comprising 83 total towers. The facility will generate clean energy enough to supply a city of more than 100,000 homes that will help to reduce emissions avoiding 795,000 tons of CO2 per year to the atmosphere.
Sarens, world leader in heavy lifting, engineered transport and crane rental services, has been commissioned by Borea Construction to offload and install the 83 Siemens Wind Turbines on 17,500 acres of privately owned farmland near Lomond.
The turbine models are the Siemens Gamesa 6.0-170 and 5.0-145 with a nominal capacity of 6.6MW and 5.2MW, respectively. The 6.0-170 turbine has a hub height of 110.5 meters and a weight of 149.4 tons, and the 5.0-145 turbine has a hub height of 95.5 meters and a weight of 152.4 tons.
The engineering team was in charge of offloading and installing 38 wind turbines of the 145 model and 45 units of the 170 model, and Sarens had to employ a staff of 52 workers to accomplish the scope on time. The biggest challenge was picking the right top out cranes for the project to lift the combo lifts and relocate in a timely manner. The equipment selected was a boom booster and an LG-1750 for their strong lifting at heights capabilities, also three CC-3800s and one LG-1750 were used to lift maximum weight at the heights required. This equipment used to lift the heavy wind turbines are also very user friendly when it comes to the relocations, making them the best choice for this type of projects.
The team took advantage of all low winds to maximize their performance to meet the deadlines hoisting activities and relocation. This project takes place on very sandy soil making moves more time consuming due to needing to dismantle the cranes further than normal. Another big challenge was to avoid the storms that brought high winds along because it is a very windy area.
Some of the benefits in the Vulcan County will be the creation of up to 300 construction jobs during construction and 10 to 15 permanent local jobs, the supply chain opportunities for local businesses and companies, the contract opportunities during construction and operation including excavation, civil works, snow removal, road maintenance, fencing, and reclamation. This project has also increased the local spending on goods and services in the neighboring areas
The Buffalo Plains Wind project contributes to Canada's efforts to transition to cleaner, low-carbon energy as it’s important to keep increasing the capacity of clean energy production to help Canada to become a more energy stable country.
Sarens has a long history of developing wind projects in Canada. These include the Golden South Wind Project in Assiniboia and the Blue Hill Project in Saskatchewan where Sarens contributed to the transport and erection of 50 wind turbines at their final destination. Sarens was also involved in the maintenance maneuvers at the Whitla Wind facility, the largest in Alberta, to assembly and disassembly blades, rotors, gearboxes and main shafts that ensure the correct operation of the wind turbines.
About Sarens
Sarens is the global leader and reference in crane rental, heavy lift and engineered transportation services. With state-of-the-art equipment, value engineering, one of the world's largest inventories of cranes, transporters and special rigging equipment, Sarens offers creative and intelligent solutions to today's heavy lifting and engineering transport challenges.
With more than 100 entities in 66 countries operating without borders, Sarens is an ideal partner for small to large-scale projects. Sarens currently employs 5,000 highly qualified professionals who are ready to serve the needs of any client worldwide and in all market sectors. https://www.sarens.com/