First Viking convoy went ‘without a hitch’

The convoy travelled under police escort.

Viking Energy has celebrated another “huge milestone” after the first convoy transporting turbine components went “without a hitch”.

Led by specialist police teams, the convoy set off from Greenhead Base at 6am today (Monday), arriving at the Central Mainland construction site just 30 minutes later.

Stakeholder manager for Viking Energy Windfarm, Aaron Priest, said: “It’s obviously a huge milestone for the project and everybody is absolutely delighted that its gone so smoothly.

“Everything has gone to plan and it’s good that it’s all come together on the day.

“It’s very rewarding to see the components being delivered and we’re looking forward to the next major milestone which is the turbines starting to go up.”

Over the next six months, bespoke trailers will make around 280 journeys, transporting more than 1,000 components to build what will become the UK’s most productive onshore windfarm. 

Vestas lead project manager Robert Yeates said the project had been two years in the planning and he was pleased to see the first journey go ahead smoothly.

“It was uneventful, which is what we wanted to see,” he added.

“Everything went as planned.”

Although teams had allowed up to an hour for the journey, it was completed in around half that time.

Mr Yeates said it was “surprisingly quick”.

The convoy timetable allows for up to three journeys a day, six days a week until July.

Each convoy will involve three or four huge lorries with police teams organising rolling roadblocks to keep other road users out of the way.

As many as 20 people will be involved in each journey.

Although some have questioned why the journeys were not carried out at night, to minimise disruption, Mr Priest explained the decision had been taken by the police and SIC roads department based on safety considerations. 

“We are extremely grateful for all the planning that has gone into this and thank the public for their forbearance,” he said. 

“As we saw this morning, hopefully it will all go quickly and efficiently and we will get all the deliveries made as soon as we can.” 

Mr Priest said the first convoy went “without a hitch”.

The first lorries were carrying nacelles –  the box at the top containing the gearbox and generator – with others planned for later this week taking tower sections.

Convoys carrying the turbine blades will start in around three weeks’ time.

Mr Yeates said the towers and blades may take longer to transport, as they were harder to manoeuvre.  

Trailers have been designed specifically to handle the longer loads, with extra axels to spread the weight.

High winds forecast for later in the week may also cause challenges.

Mr Yeates said decisions would be taken each day on whether it is safe to proceed – with a maximum windspeed having been agreed.

“We don’t want to get part way to the site and then have issues and not be able to deliver the components,” he said. “So we want to have the decision made before then.”

Mr Yeates said high winds would be more of a challenge for the construction phase, which is set to start in the coming weeks. 

The first phase will see smaller cranes build the base and lower sections of the tower, with larger cranes following in March to finish the upper sections.

The first turbine should be completed in April.

They will be finished in “radials” – groups of seven or eight turbines which share the same connection.

All 103 should be built by the end of the year. 

Following the completion of the HVDC cable between Kergord and Caithness, the windfarm will be ready to start generating and exporting electricity by spring 2024.

Convoys are scheduled to leave Lerwick three times a day: on weekdays at 6am; 11am and 2pm; and on Saturdays at 6am; 10am and noon.

The timings have been planned to ensure the convoys will be off the roads by 8am and 3pm to avoid the relevant peak travel periods.