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.
Located on Dogger Bank, 195 km off the north east coastline of 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 (S$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.
Sembcorp Marine President & CEO, Mr Wong Weng Sun said: “In keeping with the global shift towards a cleaner and greener energy mix, Sembcorp Marine has proactively diversified into cleaner, greener and renewable energy solutions since 2015. We have made strategic investments to augment our world-class assets, engineering talent and technological bench strength to position Sembcorp Marine in the centre of the fundamental shift to a low-carbon economy.”
Construction of the offshore converter platform by Sembcorp Marine will start this year with delivery and installation at the Wind Farm site in 2023.
(Source: Semcorp Marine)