Sembcorp Marine (SembMarine) and GE Renewable Energy’s Grid Solutions have secured a contract worth approximately GBP600 million ($1.12 billion) from RWE Renewables to supply the high voltage direct current (HVDC) electrical transmission system for the Sofia Offshore Wind Farm.

The wind farm, located off the northeast coastline of the UK,  will have a capacity of 1.4 gigawatts that will power the equivalent of nearly 1.2 million UK homes, making it one of the largest wind farms in the world when completed. 

Sembcorp Marine and GE Renewable Energy’s Grid Solutions began early design works for the project in July 2020, after being chosen as the preferred supplier of the HVDC electrical transmission system.

Sembcorp Marine’s scope of work for the contract includes the design, construction, installation and commissioning of the offshore converter platform (OCP). The OCP comprises a 17,000-tonne topside and jacket foundation structure piled into the seabed 220 km from the nearest shore and will be the most powerful and most remote OCP ever built. 

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Construction of the OCP will commence this year, with delivery expected in 2023.

Samuel Wong, head of SembMarine offshore platforms, says that the company is excited to work with GE Renewable Energy’s Grid Solution on the project.

“We are grateful to RWE for its vote of confidence in Sembcorp Marine’s capabilities and outstanding track record of delivering offshore platforms to major field developments in Europe and Asia,” he adds.

Raj Iyer, grid integration leader at GE’s Grid Solutions, says “as the HVDC consortium leader for the Sofia Offshore Wind Farm, we are excited to move ahead with this project.”

Shares in SembMarine closed 0.3 cents or 1.89% higher at 16.2 cents.