RWE has awarded Van Oord the installation (EPCI) contract for the Sofia Offshore Wind Farm, one of the world’s largest offshore wind projects. Van Oord will deploy its offshore installation vessel Aeolus and cable-layer Nexus for the project.

Van Oord’s UK branch, MPI Offshore, will establish a logistics hub to manage the comprehensive scope of work for Sofia, a 1.4 GW offshore wind farm situated on Dogger Bank in the central North Sea, approximately 195 kilometres off the North East coast of the UK.

The Aeolus vessel will install 100 extended monopile foundations without transition pieces, while the Nexus vessel will lay 350 kilometres of array cables. Van Oord will subcontract the fabrication of the foundations and array cables.

Van Oord has a track record of working together with RWE in constructing offshore wind farms like Rampion, Humber Gateway, Robin Rigg and London Array. The Sofia wind farm is seen by Van Oord as an opportunity to bolster its partnerships in the UK supply chain, enhance its construction methods, and improve the design of the foundation that will support some of the largest turbines available in the market.

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Onshore construction will get underway 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 Q1 2021, with installation scheduled for 2024.

“By contributing to the realisation of one of the world’s largest offshore wind farms, Van Oord is again at the forefront of projects that contribute to the transition to renewable energy”, says Pieter van Oord, CEO of Van Oord. “Sofia will make a major contribution to the UK’s climate goals. The project will be executed by MPI Offshore from our Stokesley office in Teesside and will deliver excellent opportunities for the local supply chain and labour market and to support the industry’s UK Sector Deal ambitions.”