Van Oord to install Sofia monopiles, array cables offshore the UK
Dec. 10, 2020
RWE has selected Van Oord as the preferred supplier for the EPCI of the monopile foundations and array cables for the Sofia wind farm, 195 km (121 mi) offshore northeast England.
(Courtesy Van Oord)
The installation vessel Aeolus.
Offshore staff
ROTTERDAM, the Netherlands – RWE has selected Van Oord as the preferred supplier for the engineering, procurement, construction, and installation (EPCI) of the monopile foundations and array cables for the Sofia wind farm, 195 km (121 mi) offshore northeast England.
Van Oord’s installation vessel Aeolus will install 100 extended monopile foundations without transition pieces, while the cable-lay vessel Nexus will install 350 km (217 mi) of array cables. The company will sub-contract the fabrication of the foundations and array cables.
(Courtesy Van Oord)
The cable-lay vessel Nexus.
According to Sven Utermöhlen, COO Wind Offshore Global of RWE Renewables, Sofia will be the fifth and largest UK offshore wind farm the two companies have worked on together.
Onshore construction is expected to start at Sofia’s converter station site in Teesside early next year. Work on the foundation and array package is set to begin after the project’s financial investment decision in 1Q 2021, with installation scheduled for 2024.
MPI Offshore, a Van Oord subsidiary, will execute the project from its Stokesley office in Teesside.
