Wind

RWE sets financial seal on Britain's next gigawatt-scale offshore wind plant

Developer's final investment decision on the 1.4GW Sofia project looks forward to switch-on in 2026 with power flowing to 1.2 million homes in the UK

Blades ready for load-out at Siemens Gamesa's Hull, UK plant
Blades ready for load-out at Siemens Gamesa's Hull, UK plantFoto: SGRE

Construction of Britain’s latest gigawatt-scale offshore wind farm, the 1.4GW Sofia, is cleared to start following developer RWE’s final investment decision (FID) on the giant North Sea plant.

The £3bn ($4.1bn) project, being built around 14MW Siemens Gamesa turbines on a site some 200km off the UK’s North East coast, is expected to see offshore works kick off in the summer, with the project online in late 2026.

“Taking the FID for our largest-ever offshore wind project is a great moment for the entire RWE Renewables team,” said Sven Utermöhlen, RWE Renewables’ global offshore wind chief operating officer.

“Sofia will break new ground for [us], establishing our expertise for installing 14MW turbines, the most advanced technology, further offshore. It will also provide invaluable experience that we can deploy on new projects.”

Tom Glover, RWE Renewables’ chief commercial officer, said: “Through this decision, we strengthen our commitment to growing and investing in renewable energy in the UK, and to playing a significant part in helping deliver the UK’s ambition to grow [its] offshore wind capacity … [and] unlock long-term local jobs, and business benefits.”

Originally one of four Dogger Bank area developments granted consent orders in August 2015, Sofia won a Contract for Difference (CfD) award after bidding at a world-record low strike price of £39.65/MWh ($48.8/MWh) in the UK’s third CfD auction in 2019.

Sofia is being built around Siemens Gamesa’s top-of-the-line turbine, the SG14-222DD, with power from the wind farm, which sprawls over an area of almost 600km2 of the Dogger Bank area in the North Sea, feeding into the national grid at an existing substation in Lackenby, Teesside.
US power giant GE’s grid division has started early design work with Asian marine contractor Sembcorp Marine on the high voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission system for development, which will be able to supply enough electricity to run more than 1.2 million British households.
International marine contractor Van Oord was tapped to supply the project’s monopile foundations and array cables, while Prysmian is signed up to deliver the HVDC submarine and land export cables.
Along with Sofia, RWE’s UK offshore portfolio encompasses the operational 857MW Triton Knoll wind farm, as well as four extension projects in the UK with a combined capacity of around 2.6GW. The developer successfully bid for two new sites adjacent to Sofia on Dogger Bank, totalling 3GW of capacity, in the UK Crown Estate’s recent Round 4 leasing auction.
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Published 24 March 2021, 16:57Updated 25 March 2021, 11:50
UKRWEOffshoreOffshore windNorth Sea