For two years, the Port of Lüderitz in southwest Namibia was the site of much activity.

Requiring a port big enough to handle massive shipments of supplies needed to build a solar power tower plant, shipping company Berry Donaldson had to go elsewhere because Cape Town harbour just couldn’t handle it.

But the transporting of the supplies didn’t stop there.

Once they arrived from Spain, the imported components were then escorted to the building site in Upington, North West, where the Khi Solar One (KSO) would become the first of its kind in Africa, explains PVTech:

Khi Solar One is a super heated steam solar tower with two hours of thermal storage. Abengoa [the company which built the plant] claims the tower is an innovative breakthrough in CSP technology by using higher temperatures and a more efficient cooling system, based on Abengoa’s own research and development work.

Pretty cool, ain’t it?

With the ability to supply 45 000 households with electricity, the power plant covers an area of 140 hectares and was the first tower plant to achieve 24 hours of operation with solar energy only.

Here’s what Berry Donaldson‘s operations looked like, from ship to site:

With 335 metric tonnes of out of gauge cargo (meaning the cargo was irregularly-shaped/oversized), it was the heaviest shipment of plant equipment to ever be handled at the port.

The project even required extensive road infrastructure improvements to accommodate the loads.

And Berry Donaldson organised it all, and if they can handle a load like that, you can be assured they will be able to handle whatever it is you’re planning to import or export.

They’ll take care of dealings with airlines, shipping companies, customs, warehousing, insurance and cargo deliveries. In other words, all that stuff no one knows how to handle.

[source:pvtech]