The largest wind farm project in the Philippines, requiring the transport of project cargo has been completed by Scan Global Logistics. The project logistics company, together with the industrial project customer erected and installed 32 wind turbines in the North Luzon region of the Philippines.

The Balaoi & Caunayan Wind Farm in the North Luzon region of the Philippines consists of 18 units of 5.0-145 and 14 units of 5.0-132 wind turbines, combining a total output of 160 MW (megawatt). It’s the largest wind farm project in the country to date, making it a critical strategic move towards the target of getting 35 per cent of the country’s energy supply from renewable sources by 2030.

To manage a job site spread across several mountain ridges, a skilled and experienced project management, erection, and installation team was required to ensure the project ran smoothly and safely. In addition to coordinating tasks and timelines, the full project scope involved hiring expert sub-contractors to complete the erection and installation of wind turbines. This included deploying local experts to finalise the installation inside the turbines after erection.

Moving project cargo in adverse conditions

The Balaoi & Caunayan Wind Farm project in the North Luzon region was a challenging one due to the extreme site and weather conditions. To handle the project, the customer needed a skilled and experienced project management, erection, and installation team.

The construction site was spread across several mountain ridges and site roads that had inclines of up to 20 per cent. Therefore, installing the 32 wind turbines required great adaptability and flexibility from Scan Global Logistics and its partners to find the right solutions. To complete the project, two main crawler cranes towering 138 meters up in the air were moved around the construction site, assembled and disassembled repeatedly.

An adaptable approach

Navigating the typhoon season and the challenging site conditions, the project approach was continuously adapted to continue construction whenever a weather window was available. To mitigate delays, sometimes, when the weather would permit, the turbines were erected during the night.

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Adding to the challenging circumstances, frequent earthquakes and landslides caused by heavy rains and unstable roads caused a delay to the project for several months, pushing the scheduled project period into the typhoon and high-wind season and causing even further delays.

Handling the overall project management and planning of the wind farm required working closely with the customer and the sub-contractors to erect and install all 32 wind turbines successfully.

Another project is already ongoing

The Scan Global Logistics team is currently engaged in managing and completing the erection and installation of a 70 MW wind farm project in the Ilocos Norte province of the Philippines using cranes. The project comprises of 14 5.0-145 turbine units. The construction work began in July 2023, and as of now, 10 of the 14 turbines have been erected and installed.

As the Philippines, the nation with the second-largest population in Southeast Asia, moves towards renewable energy, Scan Global Logistics is aiding the country in mitigating the effects of climate change.