Dutch engineering company signs deal for Sofia HVDC platform

Iv-Offshore & Energy is SMOP’s engineering subcontractor for the balance of plant installation and will provide detailed design for the topside and jacket and procure the topside equipment.

The Sofia windfarm will consist of 100 wind turbines with a total installed capacity of 1.4 GW. The offshore converter platform will convert electricity generated by the turbines from 66 kV alternating current to 320 kV direct current before transmission to shore.

UK Grid Solutions Ltd and Iv-Offshore & Energy completed a FEED study for the Sofia HVDC platform in 2018.

The Sofia contract follows earlier ones that saw the company involved in the Borwin Alpha (400 MW) project, followed by Dolwin Alpha (800 MW) and Helwin Béta (690 MW), for which the company provided engineering and design studies. The company was also involved in a 2 GW offshore grid connection FEED study for TenneT.

Sofia is the largest project in RWE Renewable’s development portfolio. It is to be built 195 km off the coast of the northeast of England on the shallow central area of the North Sea known as Dogger Bank.

Construction of the windfarm is due to begin onshore at the Teesside converter station site early next year, with offshore construction expected to get underway in 2023.