Sembcorp Marine Ltd and GE Renewable Energy’s Grid Solutions have secured a contract from RWE Renewables, to supply the high voltage direct current (HVDC) electrical transmission system for the Sofia Offshore Wind Farm. (Photo quoted from Sembcorp Marine’s official website) 

Located on Dogger Bank, 195 km off the north east coastline of the UK in the central North Sea, Sofia spans an area of 593 km2. With a capacity of 1.4 gigawatt (GW) that will power the equivalent of nearly 1.2 million UK homes with clean and renewable energy, Sofia will be one of the largest wind farms in the world when completed.

Sembcorp Marine and GE Renewable Energy’s Grid Solutions began early design works for the project in July 2020, after being chosen as the preferred supplier of the HVDC electrical transmission system. The HVDC system represents Sofia’s second largest contract and is worth approximately £600 million ($1.12 billion).

The contract work scope comprises the design, manufacture, installation, commissioning and maintenance of the offshore converter platform (OCP) and the onshore converter station (OCS), including all ancillary equipment. Sembcorp Marine’s scope of work includes the design, construction, installation and commissioning of the OCP.

The OCP, at the heart of the wind farm, comprises a 17,000-tonne topside and jacket foundation structure piled into the seabed 220 km from the nearest shore. It will be the most powerful and most remote OCP ever built.

With this contract win, Sembcorp Marine strengthens its position in the renewable energy segment, validating its strategy to transform itself into an innovative engineering solutions provider in the offshore, marine and energy industries with a focus on sustainability.

Construction of the offshore converter platform by Sembcorp Marine will start this year with delivery and installation at the Wind Farm site in 2023.

(IRuniverse)