Velocita opts for river transport of its wind turbines(04 October 2021)

Velocita Energies is building a wind farm of 17 turbines in Haute-Marne. The components of the wind turbines were transported by river, a solution that offers logistical and environmental advantages.

Over long distances, river transport is comparable to road transport in terms of time. Due to their size, the transport of nacelles, towers and blades by road is complex. River transport avoids the risks of road transport, the need to make arrangements for the passage of exceptional convoys, traffic jams and also limits greenhouse gas emissions.  A ton of goods transported by river emits on average 4 times less CO2 than when transported by truck.

As the wind turbine components were manufactured in China, they were transported by sea to the port of Antwerp. A total of 17 barges transported the nacelles, hubs, tower sections and blades on the Rhine, which is the equivalent of 180 trucks. After a journey of about 700 km on the Rhine, the components were unloaded and stored at the port of Neuf-Brisach near Colmar.

They are then loaded onto exceptional road convoys to travel the last few kilometers to the wind farm site, in the municipalities of Fayl Billot, Pressigny and Pierremont-sur-Amance, southeast of Langres.  Velocita plans to build two more wind farms in the same area by 2023 and is considering using river transport again.

discover the transport of our wind turbines in video