RWE Installs First Turbine Foundation for the 1.4 GW Sofia Offshore Wind Farm

RWE  installs the first offshore turbine foundation for the Sofia offshore wind farm. The 1.4 GW offshore wind farm in the UK is RWE’s largest offshore wind project to date. The project is located 195 km from the north-east coast of the UK. By 2026, the project will be operational and capable of producing enough electricity to power 1.2 million typical UK homes.

RWE installs the first turbine via Aeolus vessel : Source RWE

Following the installation of the essential subsea cable infrastructure, this installation marks the start of offshore construction within the array, which covers an area of 593 square kilometers. Furthermore, RWE will install about 100 foundations for 100 turbines.

Sven Utermöhlen, CEO, RWE Offshore Wind, said, “Installing the first monopile is a highly symbolic moment in the construction of every offshore wind farm. After 14 years of planning and preparation, this is a great achievement for the entire RWE team.”

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Sofia Offshore Wind Farm is located on Dogger Bank, 195 kilometres from the nearest point on the UK’s north-east coast, and will have a single offshore converter platform, with the electricity generated transported to landfall 220 kilometres away in Redcar, Teesside. Additionally, it is situated near the Dogger Bank wind farm  (Dogger Bank C).

The wind farm will use 100 Siemens Gamesa 14 megawatt (MW) offshore wind turbines (SG 14-222 DD), the most advanced offshore wind turbine technology available. A total of 44 out of 100 turbines will be equipped with recyclable blades. Once completed, each 14 MW turbine will be 252 metres tall.

Details About the Installation

Van Oord, an international marine contractor, owns and operates the vessel ‘Aeolus’ that carries out the work to install the foundations at the wind farm array on Dogger Bank. Following the successful construction of the Rampion, Humber Gateway, Robin Rigg and London Array wind farms, Sofia is the fifth major offshore wind project the company is delivering in collaboration with RWE.

The vessel and crew will deliver the installation of three foundations per cycle, with a transit time of up to 16 hours. The total duration of this campaign phase will depend on sea conditions, but all 100 foundations are expected to be installed by spring 2025. This follows the installation of the high-voltage direct current (HVDC) export cable, which started in 2023.

Project Timeline

Operations & Maintenance

Operations and maintenance activities for the wind farm will be located at RWE’s new offshore wind operations base, ‘Grimsby Hub’, which also supports RWE’s Triton Knoll Offshore Wind Farm and future  offshore wind projects in the UK.

RWE’s Offshore Wind Portfolio in UK

RWE already operates 10 offshore wind farms across the UK. Including the three Norfolk offshore wind projects from Vattenfall. Apart from this, RWE is developing nine offshore wind projects in the UK, representing a combined potential installed capacity of around 9.8 GW.

Read: EnBW Starts the Construction of Germany’s Largest Offshore Wind Farm in the North Sea

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