Dutch offshore wind foundation manufacturer, Sif, officially opened its expanded factory at Maasvlakte 2, Rotterdam, on 14 May. Inaugurated by the Dutch Minister for Climate Policy and Green Growth, Sophie Hermans, the new facility has already produced 30 out of the total 56 monopiles for its first project, Empire Wind 1 in the United States.
Sif started building the expansion to its existing facilities at the Maasvlakte 2 terminal in May 2023, shortly after making the final investment decision to construct what the company said is the world’s largest monopile foundation manufacturing plant.
The expansion, which was delivered on time and within budget, entailed an investment of EUR 328 million, a 16-month construction period and offers additional jobs to almost 200 people, according to Sif.
The project added 60,000 square metres to Sif’s existing 40,000-square-metre facilities in Rotterdam, which have also been transformed from a more traditional assembly plant to a fully integrated robotised production line for monopile foundations of up to 11 metres in diameter and 120 metres in length.
The theoretical production capacity of the expanded factory is approximately 200 monopiles per year, Sif says.
The first production line at the new manufacturing halls went into operation in the summer of 2024, and Sif produced the first monopile for Equinor’s Empire Wind 1, the new factory’s inaugural project, in November 2024.
Of the 54 foundations for Empire Wind 1, more than 30 monopiles and all primary steel for the transition pieces have been completed, Sif said on 15 May.
Production of the 52 TP-less monopile foundations for the factory’s second project, the Ecowende offshore wind farm in the Netherlands (Shell, Eneco, and Chubu Electric Power), will start shortly.
Upcoming projects for the new facility are the monopiles and transition pieces for Polenergia and Equinor’s Bałtyk 2 & 3 offshore wind farms in Poland and monopiles for RWE and TotalEnergies’ OranjeWind in the Netherlands.