Manufacturing Update

In September 2021, Sofia Offshore Wind Farm marked a key manufacturing milestone with a ceremony to celebrate the first steel cutting for its offshore converter platform in Batam, Indonesia. The event signified the formal start of fabrication for this critical high-voltage direct current (HVDC) component, which will play a central role in transmitting power from the 1.4 GW wind farm on Dogger Bank back to the UK grid. Holding a dedicated ceremony underlines the importance of the platform within Sofia’s overall delivery schedule and confirms that detailed design and procurement for this element had progressed to the manufacturing phase. This milestone followed earlier project decisions and contracts, including the selection of GE’s Grid Solutions and Sembcorp Marine as preferred suppliers for the HVDC transmission system in 2020 and RWE’s positive financial investment decision in March 2021. By the time of the first steel cut, Sofia was already under construction, with enabling works underway at the onshore converter station site in Teesside. The start of steel fabrication at Batam therefore represented the transition of the offshore converter platform from planning and design into physical production, helping to anchor the project’s broader construction timeline and paving the way for subsequent assembly, outfitting and later transport of the platform towards UK waters.