Convoys of wind turbine components for the Viking Wind Farm in Shetland have begun their journey today (07 February) from Lerwick Port to the Viking site in central Mainland Shetland.

Vestas, which is supplying the 103 wind turbines which make up the wind farm, is responsible for safely managing the process of getting the components from their factories to Lerwick and then delivering them from there to the Viking site.

Robert Yeates, Lead Project Manager with Vestas, said: "The first convoy this morning went to plan thanks to the expertise, of McFadyen’s Transport Ltd and the wider supporting team.

"I am pleased that with the help of specialist Police Scotland officers who escorted the loads, the journey was completed safely and with the minimum of disruption to road users."

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Aaron Priest, Stakeholder Manager for Viking Wind Farm, said: "Delivery of the first turbine components marks a significant milestone in the construction of Viking Wind Farm.

"It’s great to see the first components arrive on site, we would like to thank all those involved in the delivery process, it was excellent co-ordination which ensured road users journeys were not significantly impacted."

The first turbines at the Viking Wind Farm site are scheduled to be erected during March. The wind turbine component convoys are expected to conclude in July at the latest.

Convoy timing details

• There will be up to three convoys per day, 6 days a week (Mon – Sat) with up to four wind turbine components per convoy.

• Convoy travel time is estimated to be around 1 hour from leaving the port to entering the site.

• The times the convoys are expected to leave the port on weekdays (Mon-Fri) are between: 6am – 7am; 11am – 12noon; 1pm – 2pm

The times the convoys are expected to leave the port on Saturdays are between: 6am – 7am; 10am – 11am; 12 noon – 2pm

The timing of the movements has also been planned to seek to ensure that the early morning convoy will be off the public highway by 8am and the mid-afternoon convoy will be off the public highway by 3pm to avoid the relevant peak travel periods.