AAL Shipping has been an integral part of bringing clean energy to around 124,000 homes in Australia’s Queensland region. The company is operating a series of shipments between several ports in China and Brisbane, Australia, to transport heavy lift and project cargo components for the 181MW Dulacca wind farm.

Shipments will have started already in February and are scheduled to close in July 2022, with the company’s 32,128 dwt multipurpose heavy lift vessel AAL Melbourne dropping off the first 45 Vestas blades destined for the project in mid-April.

Employed by multiple global logistics companies to manage the ocean transportation for some of the Wind Farm’s largest components, AAL’s shipments will comprise 43 Vestas wind turbines (towers and blades), transformers, and electrical cables – a total of close to 375,000 freight tonnes (FRT) of cargo.

Andrew Mangan, chartering manager, AAL, and coordinating the sailings into Australia from the carrier’s Singapore Headquarters, added, “The shipments into Brisbane for Dulacca are being loaded from several Chinese ports including Tianjin, Taicang and Yangzhou and we are working with multiple logistics companies in their execution, each with their own specific timeline and cargo requirements. We therefore decided to utilise two different vessel classes on the project – our mega-size 31,000 deadweight (DWT) A-Class and the more compact 19,000 DWT S-Class – to manage both large and small shipment sizes with as much efficiency and economy of scale for our customers as possible.”

The Dulacca wind farm

The 181MW Dulacca Wind Farm is located between Dulacca and Drillham in the Western Downs Region of Queensland and will be powered by 43 Vestas wind turbines of 4.2MW rated capacity each.

“It will generate enough clean energy to power 124,000 homes and inject over AUD 400 million ($285.3 million)  into the local economy. The award of this project is a welcome recognition of AAL’s long-standing ‘Asia – Australia’ trade lane and expertise, which has served customers with a regular scheduled service for over 26 years. We are proud to be part of such an important local project and helping to expand the use of sustainable green energy solutions in the country,” says Chris Yabsley, Chartering Manager, AAL Australia.

Once completed the wind farm will have the capacity to generate up to 180 megawatts of clean energy and CleanCo Queensland has signed up to take 70 percent to support its commercial and industrial customers on their renewable energy journeys.

Together with RES in Australia, Vestas has secured a 181 MW deal for Dulacca Wind Farm in Queensland, Australia. The project will feature 43 V150-4.2 MW wind turbines which Vestas will supply and install.

The commissioning of the wind farm is expected to commence in the first quarter of 2023.