German Albanian Logistics Agency (GALA) claims to have organised the transportation of the first windmill to be installed in Albania.
Last week the “Northern Rock“ arrived at the port of Durres, Albania with a secondhand Nordex windmill onboard, which had been loaded in Vlissingen, Netherlands. More windmills of this type will follow in the coming months.
“We are very proud to be part of this historic event“, says Fation Dervishi, Managing Director of GALA. “As an Albanian company with German roots we bring local understanding to this project together with longstanding expertise in the transport of windmills.“
The vessel moored at the Terminal of EMS Albanian Port Operator (EMS APO) in the port of Durres.
GALA and its sister companies EMS APO and EMS Chartering have handled the shipment of windmills to Durres in the past. Some of these windmills have been forwarded by road to Kosovo.
Albania is one of the few countries in Europe which up to now has no wind parks. The country’s power supply is completely dependent on hydropower, which is deteriorating. According to a report by the European Commission, “the country has significant potentials for renewable resources in the form of biomass, geothermal, wind, and solar“.
The Albanian government, supported by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Albania, started a programme to build up solar power plants and wind parks last year.
“The transport of the windmill by GALA is only the beginning of a large build-up of wind parks in Albania in the forthcoming years“, says Manfred Müller, CEO of EMS-Fehn-Group. “As part of the German-owned EMS-Fehn-Group, GALA is extremely well-suited for this task. GALA’s sister company EMS Chartering is in the business of windmill transports from the beginning. Today, they ship windmills around the world with their own and with chartered vessels. Our colleagues at EFG Scandinavia in Norway provide crane solutions, especially for the wind industry. For three years now they have been heavily involved in the construction of the world’s largest onshore wind park in the North of Sweden. As are their colleagues at Europatrans, the experts for the road transport of windmills especially in rough terrain. The company has a modern fleet of trucks and trailers for special transports. This vast amount of know-how together with the fleet of own vessels and trucks under the roof of EMS-Fehn-Group benefits all member companies.“
