Mobile power plant arrives in Sochi as momentum builds ahead of 2014 Winter Olympics

An 80-tonne mobile gas turbine power plant is the latest piece of outsize cargo delivered by Volga-Dnepr Airlines to the Russian city of Sochi, capital of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games.

The 20-metre long shipment travelled onboard an An-124-100 freighter from Krasnoyarsk. With only 22cms clearance to the 4m 40cm height of the cargo hold, the turbine was driven onto the An-124 using a long ramp extension, which lessened the angle of ascent and enabled Volga-Dnepr’s loading experts to safely position the cargo inside the aircraft.

To distribute the weight of the power plant, Volga-Dnepr used a special protective covering to strengthen the deck of the An-124 cargo hold.

The delivery was successfully completed on behalf of the Russian company Instar Logistics.

Volga-Dnepr Airlines has operated a series of deliveries for the Sochi 2014 project since it started. In 2009, Volga-Dnepr operated a series of flights carrying tunnel-boring equipment for building Sochi’s new transport infrastructure. In 2011, the airline delivered telecommunications equipment for a trial broadcast of a skiing competition. Earlier this year, transformers and several mobile gas turbine power plants were also carried to the capital of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games to provide reserve electrical energy.