Installation of Sofia Offshore Substation Coming Up

August 7, 2024, by Adrijana Buljan

Heerema Marine Contractors’ semi-submersible crane vessel (SSCV) Sleipnir is expected to sail to the Sofia offshore wind farm site in the UK in a few days to install the project’s HVDC offshore converter platform.

According to a recent Notice to Mariners from the project, Sleipnir will start the work on or around 10 August and will install both the pin piles and the jacket foundation, as well as the converter platform topside.

The heavy transport vessel (HTV) GPO Sapphire is on its way to the Sofia project site with the offshore platform and the jacket on board, while the pin piles will be transported on Wagenborg Barge 9.

The AIS data available online shows that Sleipnir is currently at the Dutch N05-A field, where the vessel will install the N05-A gas production platform, the first in the Netherlands to be powered by offshore wind.

Heerema Marine Contractors will install the HVDC offshore substation at the Sofia offshore wind farm under a contract the company was awarded for the project together with Sembcorp Marine in 2021.

The Sofia offshore wind farm is being built by RWE on Dogger Bank in the central North Sea, 195 kilometres from the North East coast of the UK, where monopile installation started in May this year.

The 1.4 GW Sofia will comprise 100 SG 14-222 DD wind turbines, of which 44 will be equipped with recyclable blades. The offshore wind farm is scheduled to be commissioned in 2026.