RWE, one of the world’s leading offshore wind companies, is celebrating significant progress in the construction of its 1.4 gigawatts (GW) Sofia offshore wind farm located on the Dogger Bank off the UK east coast.
The project has already achieved several major milestones in the construction of foundations, onshore and offshore electrical systems over the past months. It is now preparing for the first turbine installation expected in the coming weeks, and first generation of electricity and feed into the grid later this year.
Sven Utermöhlen, RWE CEO Offshore Wind: "Sofia is RWE’s largest offshore construction project globally and remains on track and on budget to generate first power this year. This impressive progress reflects the expertise of our RWE team and the strong support of our supply chain partners, ensuring the successful delivery of flagship projects like Sofia. For the UK particularly, the achievement of these latest milestones demonstrates RWE’s crucial role in deploying offshore wind in support of the UK Government’s Clean Power targets by 2030. Through partnerships with companies like Siemens Gamesa in Hull, RWE is able to support jobs and prosperity within coastal communities and is a tangible example of the value of offshore wind to the UK’s economy.”
Last week saw the arrival of the brand-new, state-of-the-art Wind Peak turbine installation vessel from Cadeler, which will carry the first of the 14 megawatts (MW) turbine1 components to the project located 195km offshore, for installation. In addition, the first of 150 recyclable2 wind turbine blades, manufactured in Hull by Siemens Gamesa have been produced ready for installation at 50 of Sofia’s 100 turbines in Spring.
So far at Sofia, more than half of the offshore turbine foundations have been installed, the offshore converter station, onshore substation, and onshore and offshore export cables are also in place, in preparation for first generation later this year.
Energy Minister Michael Shanks said: “It is great to see this exciting milestone reached for the Sofia offshore wind farm. Today takes us a step closer to achieving our mission for clean power by 2030, with over a million homes expected to be powered by the cutting-edge turbines of Sofia wind farm. With £6 billion of investment from this project alone, our clean power mission is creating future-proof jobs, making the UK energy secure, and delivering the clean power needed to get bills down for good.”
Marc Becker, Siemens Gamesa Head of Offshore, said: “As wind energy becomes a cornerstone of the global energy transition, more than one million tons of blade material is expected to be installed annually. Our recyclable blades can give those materials a second use. At Hull, we are proud to be producing 150 recyclable blades for Sofia. This is a major landmark moment: Sofia, one of the largest offshore wind farms in the world, will be the first in UK waters to feature this industry-leading innovation.”
Lifecycle sustainability innovation
The completion of the first recyclable blades represents a pioneering step toward full lifecycle sustainability and aligns with RWE’s sustainability ambitions. This breakthrough technology, which incorporates an advanced resin system, enables efficient material separation and reuse, setting a new industry benchmark. Siemens Gamesa’s Hull facility plays a vital role in this transformation, serving as a hub for technological advancement and economic growth, and having provided its first recyclable blades to RWE’s Kaskasi offshore wind farm. RWE’s and Siemens Gamesa’s joint commitment to local manufacturing strengthens supply chains and generates job opportunities, reinforcing the UK’s renewable energy sector.
Vessel innovation
Further underscoring the project’s progress, the Wind Peak vessel—purpose-built by Cadeler—is one of the largest to be deployed in UK waters and most advanced vessel of its kind across the global industry. With a deck space of 5,600m2, a payload of over 17,600 tons and main crane capacity of above 2,600 tons at 46 meters, the vessels can transport and install up to seven complete turbine sets per load, cutting down the number of trips needed for each project, thus accelerating installation speed, while minimizing installation costs and the carbon footprint.
RWE currently operates 10 offshore wind farms across the UK, with an additional nine in development. These development projects represent a combined potential installed capacity of approximately 9.8 GW, with RWE’s pro-rata share totalling 7 GW.
Images for media use are available from the RWE Media Centre (Credit: RWE).
