RWE’s flagship Sofia Offshore Wind Farm has installed the project’s offshore converter platform (OCP), which converts HVAC to HVDC.
This infrastructure sits at the heart of the wind farm and is the company’s first offshore deployment of HVDC technology. Its installation keeps the 1.4 GW project on track to be fully operational in 2026.
The OCP structure, constructed over two and a half years, was loaded out from Batam Yard in Indonesia and transported to the North Sea. The company says it is understood to be the largest offshore wind converter platform of its type in the world, and its installation is attributed to the collaboration between RWE and its partners, GE Vernova and Seatrium.
“The successful installation of the OCP, the largest converter platform of its kind in the offshore wind industry, is a proud moment for RWE and everyone involved,” says Sven Utermöhlen, CEO of RWE Offshore Wind.
“This project not only highlights our commitment to leading the way on offshore wind, but demonstrates the scale and complexity of what can be achieved when we all work together.”
The installation was carried out by Heerema, using its Sleipnir heavy lift vessel as a subcontractor to the GE Vernova-Seatrium consortium responsible for the OCP.
The jacket structure, a welded tubular space frame, was first placed to support the topside facilities, which include supports for conductors, risers and the topside itself. The topside will convert the electricity generated by the wind turbines and transmit it to the onshore connection substation.
Once operational, the Sofia Offshore wind farm, located on Dogger Bank, 195 kilometers off the northeast coast of the U.K., is expected to transmit electricity generated from 100 Siemens Gamesa 14 MW wind turbines. The energy will be carried through subsea export cables to landfall in Redcar, Teesside, 220 kilometers away.
The turbines stand 252 meters tall and are equipped with 108-meter carbon and fiberglass blades, with a 222-meter diameter rotor.
