Johnson Aguado Wind: Impofu Wind Farm Project
Johnson Crane Hire, operating through Johnson Aguado Wind, deserves consideration for the Southern African Lifting Awards Project of the Year for the successful execution of one of the region’s largest and most technically demanding wind-turbine lifting programmes.
The Impofu Wind Farm project in the Eastern Cape required the coordinated installation of 57 Nordex N163 wind turbine generators, each installed on a 120-metre concrete tower. According to the project scope, the turbines have a combined stated generating capacity of 330 MW.
Project statistics
57 wind turbines installed
4 Liebherr LG1750 750-tonne main erection cranes:
- 2 LG1750-SX cranes used for concrete tower erection
- 2 LG1750-SL14D2B cranes configuration used for main turbine-component erection
24-hour operations
Approximately six months of continuous crane deployment
Approximately 17,500 scheduled main-crane operating hours
Heaviest documented tower component: 250.5 tonnes
285 concrete tower-section lifts
342 turbine-component lifts
1,425 concrete keystones handled and installed
32,547 recorded lifting, setup, relocation and handling activities across all onsite activities
Approximately 290 employees and subcontractor personnel involved at the peak of the project
Two additional 550-tonne LTM1500 cranes used for tower preassembly
The four LG1750 cranes were operated around the clock for approximately six months. Based on four cranes working 24 hours per day, this represented approximately 17,500 scheduled crane-hours, or around 4,380 scheduled hours per crane. This level of continuous deployment required significantly more than crane capacity. It demanded detailed engineering, disciplined shift handovers, planned maintenance, daily inspections, operator rotation and close coordination between lifting, transport, assembly, civil, grouting, mechanical, electrical and quality teams.
The Defining Heavy-Lift Achievement: 285 Consecutive Tower Lifts Above 140 Tonnes
The most compelling technical achievement of the Impofu project was the sustained performance of the two Liebherr LG1750-SX 750-tonne cranes, which carried the responsibility for erecting all five concrete sections of every tower across the entire 57-turbine project.
This was not a project built around one exceptional heavy lift. It was an uninterrupted programme of exceptional heavy lifting. Each of the 57 wind-turbine towers required five massive concrete sections to be lifted, precisely positioned and installed:
T0: 250.5 tonnes
T1: 223.6 tonnes
T2: 206.4 tonnes
T3: 180.4 tonnes
T4: 140.7 tonnes
This meant that every one of the 285 main tower-section lifts exceeded 140 tonnes.
Of these lifts:
171 lifts exceeded 200 tonnes
114 lifts exceeded 220 tonnes
57 lifts involved the 250.5-tonne base section
The maximum reported gross suspended load reached approximately 256 tonnes, including lifting equipment and rigging, subject to confirmation from the approved lift plan
Across the complete project, the LG1750-SX cranes lifted more than 57,000 tonnes of concrete tower sections, excluding the weight of lifting beams, hooks, rigging and other lifting accessories. That is an average of more than 1,000 tonnes of concrete lifted and installed for every turbine tower. The SX cranes did not perform these lifts in isolation or under one fixed set of conditions. The process had to be repeated across 57 separate turbine positions, requiring continuous crane relocation, setup, inspection, configuration control and integration with transport, preassembly, grouting and post-tensioning activities.
At every turbine position, the lifting team had to execute the complete sequence again:
Lift and install the 250.5-tonne T0 section.
Lift and install the 223.6-tonne T1 section.
Lift and install the 206.4-tonne T2 section.
Lift and install the 180.4-tonne T3 section.
Lift and install the 140.7-tonne T4 section.
The two LG1750-SX cranes therefore formed the backbone of the Impofu tower-construction programme. Their performance determined the pace at which completed towers could be released for grouting, post-tensioning and subsequent turbine-component installation. Two LG1750-SX cranes. Five exceptionally heavy concrete sections per tower. Fifty-seven towers. Two hundred and eighty-five critical lifts. Every lift above 140 tonnes. More than 57,000 tonnes safely raised and installed.
Most lifting projects regard a single lift exceeding 100 tonnes as a major operation. At Impofu, lifting above 100 tonnes was not an occasional milestone—it was the standard operating requirement for every concrete tower section installed throughout the project.
The team did not have the luxury of preparing for one showcase lift and standing down once it was complete. The same standard of engineering, control and precision had to be maintained repeatedly, during continuous day-and-night operations, over approximately six months.
Each lift was safety-critical. Each section had to be landed accurately onto the section below it, with the tower geometry, connection points and interfaces correctly aligned. A deviation during any one of these operations could have affected the structural sequence, grouting activities, post-tensioning programme and overall turbine-installation schedule. The true accomplishment was therefore not only the ability to lift a maximum reported load of 256 tonnes. It was Johnson Crane Hire’s ability to transform extraordinary heavy lifting into a controlled, repeatable and reliable production process. This combination of extreme load, repetition, duration and operational discipline sets the project apart. At Impofu, Johnson Crane Hire did not complete one remarkable heavy lift. It completed 285 of them.
Contribution to renewable-energy infrastructure
The Impofu project represents a major investment in South African renewable-energy infrastructure. Johnson Crane Hire’s role directly enabled the physical construction of the wind farm by providing the heavy-lift capability, engineering knowledge, skilled personnel and operational resources required to erect all 57 turbines. The project demonstrates that African lifting companies have the expertise and equipment needed to deliver internationally significant wind-energy projects. It also showcases the value of combining international wind-turbine installation experience with established South African heavy-lifting capability.
Why Johnson Aguado Wind should win
Johnson Aguado Wind should be recognised for the Impofu Wind Farm project because it successfully combined:
Exceptional lifting scale
Complex heavy-lift engineering
Four-crane, 24-hour operations
Approximately 17,500 scheduled main-crane hours
A maximum reported gross lifting load of 256 tonnes
627 principal tower and turbine-component lifts
More than 32,500 recorded lifting and handling activities
Extensive crane setup, reconfiguration and relocation
Coordination of approximately 290 personnel
Consistent execution across 57 turbine positions
A direct contribution to nationally important renewable-energy infrastructure
The Impofu project was not defined by one crane, one lift or one team.
It was defined by the disciplined coordination of people, equipment and engineering over thousands of interconnected activities. Johnson Aguado Wind demonstrated the ability to execute high-risk, high-value lifting operations safely and repeatedly, 24 hours a day, over six months. Impofu deserves recognition because Johnson Aguado Wind did not merely complete the heaviest lift.
The company successfully delivered an entire heavy-lift installation programme at exceptional scale—four 750-tonne cranes, 57 turbines, 627 principal erection lifts, approximately 17,500 scheduled crane-hours and more than 32,500 recorded lifting and handling activities.
Johnson Crane Hire,
+27 (0) 67 622 5093,
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