Heavy load bound for long haul to Ravenshoe
WINDS OF CHANGE BLOW INTO FAR NORTH
OPERATION Dumbo Drop had nothing on the elephantine effort that played out in the Port of Cairns this week.
Maritime workers used two onship cranes to carefully lower enormous wind-turbine tower sections ahead of their eventual migration up the hill to Ravenshoe.
Each of the components weighed in at a whopping 90 tonnes – about 15 times the weight of a full-grown bull African bush elephant after a Christmas feast.
They were meticulously manoeuvred off-site for storage ahead of their pending freight up the Gillies
Range, a process that will require its own painstaking planning and a police escort.
From there, it is a not-so-simple matter of cobbling the disparate parts together like a game of leviathan Lego and waiting for the wind to blow.
French renewable energy giant Neoen finally reached a financial close on its $370m project in September with construction work set to push through to March 2023.
Cairns MP Michael Healy said the mechanical behemoths’ arrival was a good omen on multiple fronts.
“First and foremost, this is what people want,” he said.
“People want new and alternative methods of energy, and this is a tangible commodity they are seeing.
“We need to look after our environment way better than we have at any time in the past.
“These huge pieces of equipment coming into our outstanding port is a reflection of what the community needs.”
Mr Healy said the crane effort was also a signal of the Cairns maritime industry’s resurgence.
“It’s good to see our port starting to get some life back into it,” he said.
“We’re hopeful of some much clearer policies in relation to cruise ships in the coming months.
“And when our borders open on the 17th of this month, that Cairns marina precinct will still be a vital and growing part of our economy.”
The Kaban Green Power Hub is located 80km southwest of Cairns, and will include a 320km transmission line upgrade alongside its wind farm and battery components.
Neoen will jointly fund those Powerlink network upgrades along a route spanning all the way from Cairns to Townsville.
The project is expected to create 250 jobs during construction and generate enough electricity to power 100,000 homes once completed in 2023.