Capital Equipment News

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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
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
ALE TRANSPORTED STATOR GENERATOR
for Kusile
generator from Richards Bay to Kusile power
station.
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.
HEAVY DUTY TRANSPORT