Capital Equipment News April 2018

MATERIALS HANDLING NEWS

Return of wind farms to reward Johnson Crane’s fleet strategy The recent sign-off of agreements with 27 renewable energy projects will hopefully revitalise South Africa’s efforts to build the green energy sector economy, and for versatile and well-equipped operators like us,” says Yaman. “We have constantly upgraded our heavy lift capability, and this has served us well in

and enhance power generation ca- pacity, says Johnson Crane Hire sales executive Peter Yaman. “The construction of wind farms around South Africa created some exciting new opportunities for the crane hire sector, and Johnson Crane Hire took full advantage to participate in the major wind farm projects to date, both here and in Namibia,” says Yaman. The recent move by new Energy Minister Jeff Radebe to put the department’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Projects (REIPPP) initiative back on track is intended to re-confirm government’s commitment not only to renewable energy but also to its partnership with the private sector. The programme is expected to bring R56-billion in new investment into the economy over the next two to three years. “This is good news for the

conducting lifts for wind farms. In particular, we have used a state- of-the-art LTR 11200 hydraulic telescopic narrow-track crawler crane with 1 200-tonne capacity – which is ideal for this application – as well as an LG 1750 lattice-boom truck-mounted crane with 750 tonne capacity.” He highlights how larger cranes can speed up projects and improve safety on site, by lifting complete equipment instead of smaller, individual parts which would still need to be assembled at height. “The components that make up a wind turbine are mostly large and very heavy, and they need to be lifted to extreme heights,” he says. “We look forward to being able to demon- strate the benefits of larger cranes as more projects are now initiated in the region’s wind energy and the broader renewable energy sector.” b

Johnson Crane Hire’s LTR 11200 undertaking the main installation lifts at De Aar wind farm.

CAPITAL EQUIPMENT NEWS APRIL 2018 45