Capital Equipment News August 2015

HEAVY DUTY TRANSPORT

ALE TRANSPORTED STATOR GENERATOR for Kusile

A LE, a leading international heavy transport and installation specialits, was awarded the contract for the loading, transportation, offloading and in- stallation of a 360 t stator generator at the Kusile power plant in Mpumalanga. The Kusile power station project will com- prise six units; each rated at 800 MW in- stalled capacity for a total of 4 800 MW. Once completed Kusile will be the fourth largest coal-fired power station in the world. At a total cost of some R118.5 billion, the power station will gradually be brought into service commencing in 2017, when Kusile Unit 1 will enter commercial operations. The 360 t stator generator was stored at the ALE storage facility in Richards Bay under roof. The first stage involved loading and re-loading the stator generator. It was lift- ed with ALE’s four post lift system (4PLS) and 12 axle lines of conventional trailers in a three file configuration, which was driven

generator from Richards Bay to Kusile power station.

underneath. The stator generator was then lowered onto the flat top transportation combination and released from the lifting system. The load was moved to the laydown area just outside the storage facility at ALE’s yard in Richards Bay. The lifting system was relo- cated to the laydown area and was used to offload the stator to the ground. For transportation scope to Kusile power station, 24 axle lines of conventional trail- ers in a three file configuration were utilised. The lifting system was used to re-load the stator onto the 24 axle lines of Goldhofer in a three file combination. The stator was transported using 4x heavy-duty 8x8 Faun trucks, two 8x4 Mercedes Benz trucks and a single 6x6 Mercedes Benz truck, all from ALE’s yard which is situated 630 km from Kusile power station. All driving was carried out during daylight hours and under police escort. It took 14 days to transport the stator

Once the stator arrived at the power sta- tion, it was lifted off the trailer using the ALE 4PLS and lowered down onto the ground. The stator generator will be stored on-site at the laydown area for a month and then reloaded onto 10 axle lines of SPMT in a four file configuration and transported to Kusile Turbine Hall 2, where will involve lift- ing the stator from the trailer up to a height of 20 m, rotating the stator in mid air and subsequently laying it down in the special- ly constructed bed where it will be secured. The lifting cradle and gantry system were specially designed and manufactured by ALE for this application.

ALE is a first class solutions provider who are pushing the boundaries and breaking world records with industry leading innovative equipment.

Mega Jack 800

Bespoke gantry system

AL.SK190

Record breaking load-out

WORLDWIDE HEAVY TRANSPORTATION AND LIFTING

INFO@ALE-HEAVYLIFT.COM WWW.ALE-HEAVYLIFT.COM

Cape Town office: +27 (0) 21 842 2762 Johannesburg office: +27 (0) 11 453 1946

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CAPITAL EQUIPMENT NEWS AUGUST 2015