Volga-Dnepr flies 430 tonnes of equipment for Afghani energy project

October 16, 2020: Volga-Dnepr Airlines performed a series of flights on an An-124-100 ramp aircraft for a new power plant project, which is being carried out in Afghanistan for the first time in 40 years. This delivery was carried out in partnership with Blue Water Shipping. 

The airline delivered 430 tonnes of equipment for Bayat Power's Bayat Power Phase 1 project, which will provide affordable electricity to more than 100,000 homes, on five flights from Al Maktoum (UAE) and Tekirdag Korlu (Turkey) international airports to Mazar-i-Sharif (Afghanistan).

The cargo included a 57 tonne transformer with supporting equipment, as well as three units of the newest and world's first transported Siemens SGT-A45 mobile turbine. It is by far the most powerful and efficient, capable of producing 300 million kilowatts of energy per year. The turbine blocks spanned 23 to 30 meters, and weighed 60 to 100 tonnes. They were installed on trailers and transported to the cargo compartment of the Ruslan using special equipment and a flyover. Before the shipment, Volga-Dnepr's specialists carried out a physical inspection of the cargo to make sure it was safely transported on the An-124.

“First of all, we would like to congratulate our partners on a well-deserved award. We are proud to be a part of this outstanding and important project," commented Ekaterina Andreeva, commercial director, Volga-Dnepr Aviation Company. She added, “We started working on it with our partners in October 2018 by developing various loading plans for this unique piece of equipment. It was a challenge in terms of cargo stowage requirements, but our team of experts with almost thirty years of experience was able to successfully solve all the tasks due to constant dialogue and cooperation with our partners. We hope that our work will continue in the future, and that the project to build the power plant will start its work safely and will benefit many people in Afghanistan. ”

Nikolay Norgaard, account manager, Blue Water Shipping added, “This is the largest aviation charter operation in the history of our company. Blue Water Shipping, Bayat Power and the rest of the participants sincerely thank Volga-Dnepr Airlines, which has become an ideal partner for us. The airline's customer care, the extraordinary flexibility and professionalism of its technicians were very valuable to us in solving complex problems on all five flights. The technical crew was with us throughout the day in Al Maktoum to fulfill all the obligations on the project. We have built relationships that have become very valuable to us. It was a truly inspiring project and we are proud to be a part of it. "