Antwerp changes port set-up to handle wind turbines

A new dedicated handling, storage and assembly operation for wind turbine components has been commissioned at the Port of Antwerp, adding capacity for a market facing growing demand for specialist infrastructure and limited availability.

Project logistics specialist Deugro commissioned the new set-up in for an unnamed major global wind turbine manufacturer. The facility, with heavy-lift equipment and multi-modal onward transport capability, is designed to handle and store the full range of wind turbine generator (WTG) components, including rotor blades, nacelles and tower sections.

The port operation has been equipped with high-capacity cranes and specialist equipment for handling complex breakbulk cargoes. It also includes extensive storage and pre-assembly areas, allowing components to be held at the port before being moved onwards to project sites.

The first vessels have already used the new operation. In July, Deugro completed the discharge of the first shipments, followed by cargo handling and storage at the terminal.

The new setup also changes the port’s role in the supply chain by providing multiple options for moving oversized turbine components inland. Its location provides direct connections to European road, rail and inland waterway networks, while its position along the Rhine-Scheldt corridor enables heavy and oversized components to be moved by inland barge.

“Antwerp serves as a strategic hub for the distribution of wind energy components throughout Europe,” said Wouter Gielen, branch manager at Deugro Antwerp.

The operation provides dedicated storage management, inventory control, condition inspections and documentation alongside vessel discharge, terminal coordination and heavy-lift handling. Deugro and its local partners will also manage preparation and logistics for onward transport.

The Antwerp facility is the fourth dedicated port set-up that Deugro has established within a relatively short period of time for the global wind and renewable energy sector, following facilities at Lindø in Denmark and Wilhelmshaven and Brake in Germany.

For the manufacturer using the Antwerp operation, the additional capacity is intended to provide greater flexibility around project deliveries and allow components to be consolidated closer to their eventual destinations.

The development comes as turbine dimensions increase and offshore and onshore wind projects require increasingly specialised logistics. Antwerp’s combination of storage, heavy-lift handling and multimodal transport access is intended to provide a more scalable logistics base for those larger components and increasingly complex project schedules.