On Dec. 11, the first two transformers for the power interconnection NordBalt to link Lithuania with Sweden were successfully unloaded from the vessel by a floating crane. One of the transformers weighing 196 tons was loaded on a special trailer equipped with 168 wheels and 14 axes.
At night it was transported through the city of Klaipėda to the village of Kiškėnai where a HVDC back-to-back converter station for NordBalt is being built. The transformer's delivery route stretching through Jūrininkų Avenue and the streets of Lipkių and Švepelių in Klaipėda and the roads 141 and 227 was chosen to avoid road obstacles, turns, roundabouts and flyovers, while the night-time hours were chosen to avoid causing inconvenience for drivers.
"These transformers are the first delivered to Klaipėda for the converter station. The intense work at the construction site of the converter station will last until the end of the next year when all large-size and technologically complex equipment will be delivered, connected and tested for its ability to interconnect the different energy systems of Lithuania and Sweden," said Karolis Sankovski, head of the Strategic Infrastructure Department and member of the board of the Lithuanian electricity transmission system operator Litgrid.
The first NordBalt transformer delivered to the Klaipėda transformer substation in Kiškėnai was unloaded from the trailer and will be installed at a site near the converter building. Three transformers in total will be installed at this site along with one standby transformer. The second delivered transformer reached its destination in Kiškėnai by overcoming the 9-km route. The third transformer and the standby transformer are due to be delivered to the Klaipėda substation this month.
