Heavy transportation and lifting company ALE has achieved Africa’s highest heavy lift for power utility Eskom’s Komati power station as more power generation equipment handling projects lie in the pipeline.

ALE recently completed the installation of two 440-t flue liners at Komati power 
station. The project, which was awarded at the beginning of 2008, involved supplying the engineering, equipment and personnel to 
install 72 steel cans. The steel cans have a height of 6 m and a diameter of 8 m, weighing 
between 12 t and 36 t each. ALE installed eight, 200-t-capacity Strand jacks on a platform inside a concrete chimney at a height of 151 m from the ground.

“This was the first time a project of this scope was done in South Africa and, because of its success, the Medupi and Kusile power stations are going to be built using the same principals,” says ALE business development manager Eugene Yntema.

The cans were fed into the chimney with a specially designed trolley that positioned the cans underneath the lifting system. ALE then systematically lifted the chimney from the ground in increments of 6 m. After every 6 m lifted, a new can was fed into the chimney with the trolley. The cans were 
bolted together and lifted another 6 m. In total, ALE installed two 440-t steel chimneys reaching a height of 220 m each, making it Africa’s highest heavy lift.

ALE continually supports Eskom’s power generation initiatives and has a number of projects in the pipeline for Eskom’s new power projects.

ALE has provided heavy transportation and installation services for a number of Eskom’s power plants. The company completed the open-cycle gas turbine project in the Western Cape, in 2008, which involved the receiving, staging, transportation and 
installation of 42 abnormal loads onto a plinth.

The contract, which was awarded by Siemens Germany, was carried out in two phases. The first phase was completed in 2006 and the second in 2008.

Several trains of power plant equipment 
arrived in South Africa with heavy lift vessels. Each train consisted of a 135-t transformer, 
a 187-t turbine and a 229-t generator. ALE made use of its local fleet of abnormal 
vehicles to stage and transport the loads to site where ALE’s overhead gantry placed the loads onto their foundations.

“The challenge was that the power plant serves as a backup system for peak time 
energy requirements so the construction time of these sites was quite crucial. We had to 
adhere to strict planning and respond to short lead times and had to arrange with transport authorities to do so many abnormal transports so frequently,” says Yntema.

ALE is also contracted to handle six 
340-t stator generator exchanges at the Kendal power station. The contract, which was awarded in 2006 and will run until 2010, involves the taking out of the stator generators. 
A stator generator is the main component of a power station, which generates electricity, which ALE transported on a self-propelled transporter, a specialised multiaxle trailer, to a refurbishment hall where they are refurbished by Siemens. The refurbished stator is then reinstalled. 
ALE uses a custom-built gantry system with a capacity of 500 t to remove the generators from the turbine floor.

ALE also transports all the components globally for the Arnot power station. 
The contract was awarded in 2006 and is ongoing.
“We have successfully delivered over 100 shipments through air and sea freight for this project,” says Yntema.

“Over the last three years, we have done several major transformer transports in Southern Africa, covering thousands of 
kilometres,” adds Yntema.

In 2006/7, ALE transported transformers to Matla power station, and each transformer weighed up to 230 t. ALE also transported transformers from Koeberg that were being decommissioned. The 180-t transformers were removed, transported and offloaded at SA Metal, in Epping. As part of another Koeberg contract, ALE transported the new 65-t nuclear vessel head from Cape Town harbour to Koeberg. 
The old vessel head, which sits on top of the main reactor, was removed from the Unit 1 building. ALE then transported the 74-t shielded vessel head to a specially designed storage building.

“The demand for electricity throughout Africa provides a promising future for companies involved in power generation. We are quite enthusiastic about the future of Eskom and power generation in South Africa and we are ready to support Eskom in all its 
initiatives,” concludes Yntema.

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