Haliade X: An XXL Cargo Handling Operation Performed by Sogebras

Since the spring of 2023, the General Electric (GE) factory at Montoir de Bretagne has started exporting its giant Haliade X nacelles, which will be equipping various offshore wind farms worldwide. Sogebras is charged with coordinating the handling operations for these outsize cargo consignments.

By moving up from the Haliade 50-6 MW (the model of wind turbine nacelle installed off Saint Nazaire) to the Haliade X, which is twice as powerful, the GE factory is operating on a new scale. To load these nacelles each weighing several hundreds of tonnes, the Company has called upon one of its long-standing partners: Sogebras.

"We have been working for GE ever since the Le Carnet prototype in the early 2010s," recalls Christophe Le Tanter, Handling Operations Manager at Sogebras. "We have also carried out the handling operations for components leaving the factory for Germany’s Merkur wind farm, and for the wind farm facility sited off Saint Nazaire. For the Haliade X, we have had to put in place a new lifting system."

It has proved necessary to adapt a new lifting beam to cater for the new model of nacelle. GE’s engineering has taken into account the feedback from the Sogebras teams so as to optimize its use. The nacelles are mounted on a heavy-lift-cargo trailer inside the GE factory, then transported to berth N° 5 at Montoir de Bretagne’s general cargo and container terminal.

400 Nacelles in the Coming Months

"Our role is to provide the liaison, to prepare and to assist the loading operations," continues Christophe Le Tanter. "We escort the nacelles to the quayside, where they are presented for loading aboard the vessels employing their own cranes, which are deployed in combination to lift loads such as these." The manoeuvres require constant coordination and attention throughout, and involve 12 to 15 people for each operation. Around 400 Haliade Xs should be transiting berth N° 5 in the coming months.

"Given the quantities and the size of the components, the logistical flows are going to have to operate in both directions," indicates Christophe Le Tanter. "Once the wind turbines have been installed at the different sites, we will be preparing for the return of the nacelle supports, which are going to have to come back to the GE factory to equip the new nacelles that are ready for export."