Sofia Offshore Wind Farm Construction Well Underway
Van Oord's Aeolus vessel (Credit: Port of Tyne)
Van Oord's Aeolus vessel (Credit: Port of Tyne)
Van Oord has installed over a quarter of the foundations which will support Sofia offshore wind farm’s 100 wind turbines in the North Sea since the start of operations in May.
The Dutch contractor Van Oord is using the Port of Tyne’s Clean Energy Park as a storage and marshalling base, benefitting from direct access to its deep-water quay and connection to the North Sea.
The port has been welcoming the tallest offshore installation vessel in its history, the Aeolus. Purpose-built to construct offshore wind farms, the Aeolus has a crane boom height of 155 metres and is 175 metres in length, which is the equivalent of more than 14 double decker buses.
Since May, over a quarter of the foundations have been installed in the North Sea, each measuring to 90 meters in length and weighing between 1,200 to 1,550 tonnes.
The wind farm will use 100 Siemens Gamesa 14 MW offshore wind turbines of SG 14-222 DD type.
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All of the components which will be used to build the wind turbines have been delivered to the UK. The range of large-scale items include external platforms, boat landings, and ladders, which have made the journey from Poland to the Port of Tyne. Monopiles are still be fabricated with delivery planned into 2025.
Once complete, RWE’s Sofia offshore wind farm will be roughly the same size as the Isle of Man spanning 593 km2, with the capability to provide 1.2 million typical UK homes with their electricity needs from its 1.4 GW capacity.
The Sofia offshore wind farm is expected to become operational in 2026.
“Since partnering with Van Oord earlier this year, real strides have been made in their construction of Sofia, accelerating the region’s path towards a clean energy future.
“It’s why we’ve developed our Tyne Clean Energy Park, which has been earmarked for renewable energy production tenants, while supporting our intentionally ambitious vision for a cleaner, greener future, both for the Port and wider region,” said Matt Beeton, CEO at the Port of Tyne.
“Seeing the first foundations being installed at sea is a hugely symbolic moment in the construction of every wind farm. The Sofia project is around fourteen years in the making and the construction phase has around two further years yet to go,” said Matthew Swanwick, Project Director for the Sofia offshore wind farm.
