- Final major preferred supplier selected for RWE Renewables’ largest development
- Van Oord to establish logistics hub in UK’s North East to deliver the work
- Scope includes 100 turbine foundations and more than 350 kilometres of array cables
Swindon, 10 December 2020
RWE, the world’s number two in offshore wind, has advanced the development of Sofia Offshore Wind Farm. The company has selected the international marine contractor Van Oord as the preferred supplier for the engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) of the monopile foundations and array cables, for one of the world’s largest offshore wind projects.
The 1.4 Gigawatt (GW) Sofia is sited on Dogger Bank in the central North Sea 195 kilometres from the North East coast, where Van Oord, through its UK-branch MPI Offshore, will create a logistics hub to deliver the comprehensive scope of work.
Van Oord will deploy its offshore installation vessel Aeolus to install the 100 extended monopile foundations without transition pieces, while the 350 kilometres of array cables will be installed by the family-owned firm’s first cable-laying vessel Nexus. The company will sub-contract the fabrication of the foundations and array cables.
Sven Utermöhlen, Chief Operating Officer Wind Offshore Global of RWE Renewables said: “On Dogger Bank, we are realising one of the world’s largest offshore wind farms. Van Oord is a well-known partner to us, with Sofia the fifth and largest UK offshore wind farm that we have worked on together. This gives us a wealth of experience to draw on as we progress the project through its construction phase. Sofia is a flagship for RWE Renewables in terms of technology and innovation, and for the UK through regional supply chain opportunities and as a major contributor to the nation’s net zero ambitions.”
