IT and Energy Minister in Sweden, Anna Karin Hatt, was invited along with the senior management of Svevind, Enercon, politicians, journalists and locally affected for a ceremonial start to the giant plant.
- Norwegian developers have a lot to learn from the Swedish experience with the green environmental certificates we have had in Sweden over the past decade, the Minister said. Norwegian authorities joined the scheme only three years ago and it has proved necessary to spend time on the processes in relationship to profitability of wind projects and these certificates, says Anna Karin Hatt.

Huge dimensions

Vest Kran has been a key partner in the pilot project where 12 large wind turbines were built and completed two years ago. With this summer's implementation of the main project where 1101 large Enerconmøller are planned erected in the next few years, Vestkran has been chosen to control everything regarding logistics and the lifting of components for these 138 meter high powerplants.

Just Vestkran

- We do not want to have multiple crane companies to deal with during the development. Therefore, we have chosen to work with Vestkran who has the job of managing, delegating, and performing this work, says Isaac Lindqvist.
Lindqvist is Enercon's project manager responsible for the installation of wind turbines in the 450 km2 large construction site and is very clear on their demands.

Agility

- With so many partners simultaneously inside and outside the plant area, it is of paramount importance to exploit logistics to the maximum. This means we need a company and workers with flexibility and understanding of the jobs. Sometimes we have to block roads to move equipment and components. Generally road blocks take place late in the evening or at night.

Challenging logistics

Rune Rikstad is responsible for implementing all lifting operations. He also emphasizes the importance of utilizing the logistics of the facility to the maximum.
- An example is the transport of cranes. Crane parts are shipped here by boat and car. This summer we have driven about 250 trailer loads of equipment into the facility. And that's just for the cranes. In addition, all parcels with parts for wind turbines, where the longest is nearly 50 meters long and up to 300 tonnes.
This is a site under construction, with unfinished roads and no storage capacity with almost no storage space. Currently there are about 20 cranes with a total lifting capacity of 70 000 tonnemeters inside the plant. When the development is at its most active, there  will be built almost ten times more mills simultaneously.

Safety above all

Sverre Misje is responsible for the HSE work at Vest Kran and he has, literally, a huge responsibility. - Both Enercon and Svevind have their own people working in security at the facility. The safety of lifting operations are at the forefront here. With long-term planning and proper equipment we minimize risk while providing a good progress. We're working toward a zero vision regarding accidents at the plant, said Misje seriously.
The project in Markabygda outside Piteå will be one of the largest wind farms when it is finished. The plan is to develop the area with 1101 wind mills from Enercon that will produce between 8 and 12 TWh annually. Or the equivalent development of all four major nearby rivers. In total, there will be installed turbines with a total capacity of up to 4,000 MW, roughly the same as four reactors at the nuclear power plant at Ringhals.