SYDNEY, June 7 (Xinhua) -- The world's only large-scale hybrid power plant project in Australia's north, has received its first shipment of wind turbine blades from China this week.
At 70 meters high, the 36 blades onboard weighed approximately 3,500 tons and will now head to the massive Kennedy Energy Park site in Queensland State, which will feature 12 wind turbines as well as 55,000 solar panels and four megawatts of lithium Ion battery storage.
As Australia's third largest port, the Townsville dock usually only deals with commodities like zinc, lead, sugar, fertilizer and molasses, according to Scott Stewart, Queensland state parliament member for Townsville, the oversized cargo proved quite a challenge.
"The logistical coordination of such enormous cargo involves many parties, from the importer, shipping line, to stevedores and transport companies," he said on Wednesday. "It's an incredible team effort."
Developed by Australian-based firm Windlab and Japan's Eurus Energy Holdings Corporation, the 200-meter-high wind turbines were supplied by global energy operation Vestas with the engineering and construction component of the new facility to be carried out in partnership with burgeoning Aussie company Quanta Solar.
Expected to create around 110 jobs during construction, the 160-million-Australian dollar (122-million-U.S. dollar) project has the potential to supply more than 30,000 homes with power and decrease CO2 emissions by 185,000 tonnes per year.
The state-of-the-art energy facility is part of the Queensland Government's push to achieve 50 percent renewable energy supply by 2030.
"Queensland is experiencing a renewable energy boom, and its great to see our state owned ports playing a role," Queensland Transport and Roads Minister Mark Bailey said.
