The wings of the wind redesign the path

Reaching where the clouds reside is never easy. Especially if the final stretch of the road that takes you closer to them is a narrow road, dotted with sharp curves like those that outline the route of the AV-501. This road connects the village of Aldeavieja, in Ávila, with the Puerto de Cruz del Hierro, the highest point of the Sierra de Ojos de Albos, located at almost 1,600 meters above sea level.

Up there, where the mountain sleeps under a blanket of mist, lies the home of dozens of wind turbines spread across several wind farms. And, situated at the center of them all, is the destination of our journey: the Aldeavieja wind farm of Endesa. In that location, where just a few months ago 22 wind turbines were scattered like breadcrumbs along the road, now awaits the arrival of its new residents. 4 new wind turbines that will technologically improve these facilities, making them more efficient and safer, and nearly doubling the annual energy production.

If we add to the difficulty posed by the topography and location of our destination, consider that the origin of the journey is multiple, and on top of that, we factor in the size of the protagonists of this story, the result is not a journey, but an odyssey. Because, although the transportation to the wind farm of the new wind turbines is done in pieces, transporting the 73 meters in length and 20 tons in weight of the blades of the new wind turbines or the up to 90 tons of the load of other components, such as the nacelle or the lower parts of the towers, is a challenge in terms of logistics, technical aspects, and project design.

An odyssey that begins months ago, in October, with an engineering study of all the access roads to the park from the different starting points of each structure, because this complex operation requires precision and coordination at every stage of the journey. “Through the Road Survey, the different route alternatives are analyzed, critical points along the route are identified, and the actions that need to be taken to ensure that all access roads to the park are in good condition and that it is possible to transport these enormous and heavy structures are evaluated.” Miguel Ángel Juárez is the project manager for the repowering project of the Aldeavieja Wind Farm (Ávila) and an expert in the complexity derived from such projects. Not without reason, as he has already worked with almost a hundred wind turbines in his career.

Santander, Daimiel (Ciudad Real) or different municipalities in the province of Madrid. Different origins from which each of the elements that will make up the new turbines begins its journey to the Aldeavieja wind farm, and which have required modifications to several roundabouts on different points of highways and national roads along each of the routes.

In addition to these civil works involving earth-moving, other modifications have been necessary. Removing signs or guardrails to facilitate access, transforming others into removable ones that allow for their quick removal as the convoy passes and their later repositioning… everything necessary to condition all the roads in the access routes to the project while maintaining safety for other drivers.

But the odyssey reserves its greatest challenges for the end. “The most complex tasks we’ve faced in getting these wind turbines up to the park have been adjusting the entire AV-501 road,” says Miguel Ángel. Temporarily closed to public traffic, this route, which covers the 400 meters of elevation between Aldeavieja and the top of the Sierra, has seen its path rewritten in recent months to facilitate access for our protagonists. “It’s a 5.4-kilometer stretch of provincial road with rather tight turning radii and a fairly narrow roadway, where multiple civil works have concentrated to adjust the curves and give it the necessary features to allow a 73-meter blade or structures weighing almost 90 tons to turn and access the park.”