Transnational masterstroke for a power station project
August 4, 2025 | Susanne Winter
„The project was a major challenge both technically and logistically, since the power station is located more than 250 kilometres away from all navigable waterways. All core competences of the Felbermayr Group were called upon: Inland water transport, port transshipment, RoRo shipping capacity and road haulage,“ reports Peter Niedermair-Auer, Project Manager of Felbermayr's Wels project department.
First components delivered in May 2024
It took just under a year to plan the project before the first major components were transported to the power station in May and June 2024. The two gas turbines arrived in dismantled form by inland shipping from Berlin, were transferred to another inland shipping vessel in the port of Linz and transported to Budapest. They were placed on low-loaders in the port of Csepel and transported to the Mintia power station. The gas turbines each came in twelve packages. The heaviest part weighed in at 150 tonnes with a length of 13.7 metres and a width of 3.6 metres. Eight transports per turbine were necessary.
The steam turbine was picked up from Mühlheim by inland shipping in April 2025, transferred to another inland shipping vessel in Linz and transported to Szeged. It was dismantled and sent to Mintia with seven heavy transports and several loads of accessories. The heaviest part weighed in at 150 tonnes with a width of 6 metres, a length of 9.90 metres and a height of 3.90 metres.
„We had to overcome the usual challenges on Romanian and Hungarian roads, such as old bridges and narrow through roads. We had to carry out a lot of structural calculations and route tests in advance,“ reports Niedermair-Auer and continues: „The project would not have been possible in this way without the local support of Eszter Balog in Hungary and Marius Tudose in Romania.“
380 tonne generators
The heaviest components were transported at the beginning of 2025. All three generators, which each weighing around 380 tonnes, arrived on the sea-going vessel from Charleston (USA) - two in February and one later in May. They were transshipped onto an inland shipping vessel at the PSA Breakbulk terminal in Antwerp, Belgium, and transported to the port of Linz. Handling was undertaken by Haeger & Schmidt Logistics. The generators were transshipped onto the RoRo30 push barge in Linz. One of the two had already been loaded onto a 12-axle 3-file SPMT and secured. The journey first led along the Danube, then via the Tisza to Tape in Hungary. The SPMT rolled out of the ship with the first generator using a so-called RoRo (roll-on, roll-off) ramp and continued directly through the city of Mako. The generator was hoisted from the SPMT onto another transport vehicle at a reloading point using a tower lift and strand jack system.
Largest road transport in Hungary
The generator was then transported around 270 km by road across the border to the power station in Mintia in Romania using 2 x 20 axle lines and a Baumann lifting-lever side girder bridge. The entire transport length measured 100 metres, was 6 metres wide and 5.4 metres high. The total transport weight came to 770 tonnes.
It was the largest road haulage operation in Hungary's history and posed a particular challenge for the Bau-Trans Hungary team to organise. Several route inspections were conducted together with the road authorities. The size and weight of the transport made it necessary to dismantle signs, cut trees and shore up bridges.
313 tonne transformer
Three large transformers with piece weights of up to 313 tonnes were transported by seagoing vessel from China to Constanta, Romania in February and from there to Tape, Hungary via the Danube and Tisza rivers. They were transported to Mako in the same way as the generators using SPMT by means of the RoRo ramp. One was loaded onto a side girder bridge at the transshipment point. The two other transformers arrived in Mintia with the new 24-axle Goldhofer THP/FT, comprising 12 axles with an increased bending moment. The entire transport measured 60 metres in length, 5 metres in width and 5.5 metres in height and weighed a total of 466 tonnes.
Foundation position at the power station
Five of the six heavy components - generators and transformers - were installed by experts from Felbermayr's Engineered Solutions division on the foundations immediately following delivery. The two generators for the gas turbines had to be reloaded onto a 10-axle 4-file SPMT using a 500-tonne lifting frame and then transported to the foundations. The foundations were positioned using a lifting frame and a track made of 36 metres of rail.
The generator for the steam turbine could not yet be placed on the foundation when it arrived, since this had not yet been completed. It was therefore unloaded by means of a lifting frame and set down temporarily in a storage area. The foundations will be positioned at a later date. The two transformers for the gas turbine were delivered to the construction site using a 24-axle low-loader. The heavy haulage was then positioned under the lifting frame. Subsequently, the transformers were pushed to the foundation by means of a 400-tonne shifting system and placed on the foundation using four 150-tonne climbing jacks. „An additional challenge for the employees of Engineered Solutions was to build over a three metre wide pit between the unloading point and the foundation with supports and beams,“ says Niedermair-Auer, outlining the outstanding performance of his colleagues from Krefeld.
The transformer for the steam turbine was placed on the shifting girders using the hydraulics of the side girder bridge. A girder of the side girder bridge had to be removed in order to push the transformer into its final position. It was then pushed onto the foundation with the shifting track and set down with stepped jacks.
Multimodal competence
„Thanks to our multimodal competence - on the road, water and rail - as well as our Europe-wide network, we were able to successfully complete this complex project,“ says Peter Stöttinger, Managing Director of Felbermayr Transport and Lifting Technology: "We have once again shown that we are also capable of handling major logistical challenges."
The Mintia coal-fired power station will be converted into a gas and steam power station by 2026. Featuring an installed capacity of 1,700 megawatts, it will be the largest of its kind in the European Union when it is commissioned.
