SOFIA OFFSHORE WIND FARM

Newsletter Autumn 2020

The Sofia story so far Sofia Offshore Wind Farm, one Bank development, this newsletter dissolved, with ownership of the of the world’s largest offshore picks up where the previous wind farm projects divided between wind farms, will have its onshore Forewind publications left off. The the consortium partners. infrastructure in , with work last of these was published in 2015 Sofia (formerly known as Teesside starting on-site in March 2021. Work after the four projects on Dogger B), transferred 100% to innogy (now on installing the offshore elements Bank were awarded development RWE) in August 2017. The other of the project will begin in 2023. consent by the then Secretary of three projects are now owned by This newsletter, due to be published State. SSE Renewables and Equinor under quarterly, aims to provide anyone Two of the consented projects the umbrella name ‘Dogger Bank with an interest in the project with connect to the national grid at Projects’. information about the planned Creyke Beck in East Riding of This newsletter will only cover works, status and progress. while the other two – Sofia, a 1.4 gigawatt project set to Welcome to the first newsletter including Sofia - connect to the generate enough power to provide from Sofia Offshore Wind Farm, one national grid at , near 1.2 million homes with their annual of four offshore wind projects sited in Teesside. electricity needs. It achieved a on Dogger Bank, more than 190 Forewind, a consortium of leading major milestone in 2019 by winning kilometres off the North East coast. energy companies, developed the a Contract for Difference (CfD) in If you are familiar with the Dogger four projects but has now been the UK Government’s competitive auction round, greenlighting it to proceed to the next stage. A team of more than 90 people is now focussed on the final design of the wind farm, awarding contracts to major component suppliers and achieving the financial decisions required before construction can get underway. The project’s next major milestone, due early in 2021, will be the final investment decision by project owner RWE, giving Sofia the full go-ahead. Works at the converter station site adjacent to the Wilton Complex are due to begin around the same time. Pre-construction works are now underway (see page 4 for details). sofiawindfarm.com Autumn 2020 Project news Sofia construction timetable Autumn 2021 Work starts on construction of the onshore converter station Preparatory works at landfall, between Redcar and Early 2022 Markse-by-the-Sea Mid 2022 Horizontal directional drilling for cable duct installation off the coast

Early 2023 Offshore construction begins at Dogger Bank

2025 First power generated

2026 Wind farm fully operational

Offshore site investigation completed

Photo: Aerial shot of Haven Seariser 2 thanks to local aerial imaging specialists ARC Aerial Imaging.

Sofia completed a six-month The vessels included jack-up will be analysed to build up a offshore site investigation in late Haven Seariser 2 that provided full picture of the seafloor and summer, using multiple vessels Redcar with a temporary tourist sub seafloor conditions, before to carry out geophysical and attraction as it undertook construction gets underway. It will geotechnical surveys right along boreholes close to shore. also help to determine the need the 220 kilometre cable route and for further surveys, the final cable The investigation provided Sofia’s across the 600 km2 array site on route, the landfall location and the consent and engineering teams Dogger Bank. most appropriate cable installation with key data about the seabed methodologies. and marine conditions. The data

2 sofiawindfarm.com Project news First preferred suppliers chosen

In the summer Sofia announced consortium of GE Renewable at GE’s Grid Solutions’ Stafford that preferred suppliers had been Energy’s Grid Solutions and facilities, where more than 1,000 chosen for its two biggest contracts Sembcorp Marine. The system will workers are employed. – the wind turbines and the high comprise two converter stations - voltage direct current transmission one onshore and one offshore on an system. offshore platform. Preferred suppliers to come Sofia is set to be the first European The offshore converter station By the end of this year, Sofia project to install the new Siemens will be the most powerful ever will have ‘preferred supplier’ Gamesa 14 MW turbine that will fabricated and, being installed 220 agreements with contractors to be market-ready by 2024, right on kilometres from shore, it will also fabricate and install each of its time for installation on Dogger Bank. be the most remote. The offshore key components. These include: Each turbine will stand 262 metres platform will sit at the heart of the turbine foundations; array tall, that’s just 50 metres shy of wind farm, and will comprise a cables (that carry power from the height of London’s The Shard, 10,000 tonne topside attached to the turbines to the offshore and each blade will stretch to 108 a jacket foundation piled into the converter station), and export metres. seabed. cables (that bring power to shore A total of 100 turbines together The onshore converter station will and on to the national grid). could generate enough green convert the electricity generated by The full contracts are due to be electricity to satisfy the annual the wind farm to 400 kilovolts (kV) signed when the project reaches electricity needs of almost 1.2 million before it enters the national grid. its final investment decision, average UK homes. The selection of the consortium scheduled for March 2021. This The project’s high voltage is positive news for the UK as decision is the ‘go’ button for the direct current (HVDC) electrical a significant element of all the project, marking the start of its transmission system is on track to primary HVDC equipment will official construction. be supplied by a specially formed be manufactured and fabricated

3 Onshore activity Converter station preparatory works

Consented limit of the cable corridor, converter station and construction works areas Proposed southern access

The full enabling works, to prepare the site for construction, are due to kick-off in spring 2021, once the pipeline diversion work is complete. These enabling works will include levelling land, construction of an access road, establishing the welfare area and compounds plus the creation of a platform for both converter stations along with operational services. They From October 2020, the site of nearby reservoirs to Wilton will also comprise extensions to both Sofia and Dogger Bank C’s International. two 10 metre-high mounds, plus new onshore converter stations landscaping and tree planting, to The pipelines need to be diverted next to Wilton International, will provide additional visual screening around the edge of the converter see almost continuous activity as of the converter stations from stations site so there will be the area is readied for construction. village. excavation and pipe laying activity. Contractors for the wind farms will The work will take place from 7am Plans are underway for a carry out low-key archaeological to 7pm, Monday to Friday and community information session to surveys and site investigation is expected to take around six give Lazenby village residents an work, including the digging of trial months, with every effort being opportunity to find out more about pits and boreholes, by the end of taken to minimise any disturbance the enabling works, including the December. to residents. programme. Contractors working on behalf Enquiries about these works can Details of the session will be sent of Sembcorp will be active from be made to Sembcorp via email direct to residents, however, if you November as they re-route two gbr-sol.communications@ would like to register your interest existing underground water sembcorp.com or telephone please email pipelines that carry water from 01642 212 385. [email protected].

What’s happening on-site

October 2020 Onshore archaeology and site investigation underway (completed by end 2020) Sembcorp start six month pipe diversion works

Early 2021 Community information session (Lazenby) Spring 2021 Pipe diversion works complete Converter station enabling works start on-site including new mounds, access road, site clearance and services connection Autumn 2021 Construction of onshore converter station begins

4 Autumn 2020 Working with communities

Sofia looking for teacher Working in champions offshore Sofia has launched an outreach They will work as ‘champions’ to education programme designed develop, implement and share Sofia collaborated with Tees to encourage young people curriculum materials, to educate Valley Careers on their production to consider choosing a career students in Key Stages 3 to 5 about of a video about working in the in offshore wind. Called ‘Sofia the diverse and fascinating range offshore wind sector as part of a Champions for Wind’, it aims to of careers in the growing offshore ‘Be inspired’ series. attract creative and enthusiastic wind sector. We will introduce It is now live on teachers from secondary schools them in the next newsletter. Teesvalleycareers.com. local to the onshore infrastructure.

Working together Online supplier directory launched As Sofia heads towards with Sofia and its key contractors, contractors from across the supply construction, the team has and will publish case studies chain to find the goods, services launched an online open search on how UK companies have and suppliers they need. These directory to boost UK supply chain contributed to the development of may range from large engineering opportunities, particularly in the the wind farm. firms to local caterers. North East. With more than 600 suppliers now To find out more visit The directory is part of a wider registered, it is hoped the directory sofiawindfarm.com/supplier- portal that will also highlight will become a useful tool for portal/ upcoming contract opportunities Sofia and Dogger Bank cooperation site for their onshore converter Two separate letters were sent to stations (OCSs). While the two more than 11,000 local residents projects are separate entities, to explain the proposals and the SOFIAOFFSHORE WIND FARM owned by different companies relationship between the two and with different construction projects. To view all the joint programmes, the project teams planning documents visit the will continue to assess synergies Sofia website: and opportunities to cooperate. sofiawindfarm.com To date this cooperation has The OCS enabling works included working jointly on to prepare the site for the proposed changes to the original construction of the two onshore Development Consent Order to converter stations (one for each enable more practical working, project) are also being undertaken Sofia and neighbouring project and also on submitting joint jointly. Dogger Bank C share the same planning applications to Redcar The works are being managed by landfall between Redcar and and Cleveland Borough Council Sofia on behalf of both projects. Marske-by-the-Sea, the same proposing minor changes to the onshore cable route and the same onshore work plans.

5 sofiawindfarm.com Autumn 2020 Working with communities

Middlesbrough’s Teesside feasible, that those skills will be Skills University and Sofia have pledged developed locally. to work together to boost local An early project has included entrants into offshore wind careers industry placements focussed agreement with a signed Memorandum of on a technical challenge around Understanding setting out what analysing carbon payback with signed with they will do to equip students Sofia monitoring students for careers in the rapidly growing throughout the process. Further offshore wind sector. Teesside activities will include internships, Through a structured partnership, delivering offshore wind STEM- University Teesside University will help Sofia related master classes, and taking Signing the MOU – from left - Sofia’s Senior ensure that necessary skills will part in university careers fairs and Consents Manager Kim Gauld-Clark and Teesside University’s Siobhan Fenton, Associate be available throughout the wind events, both virtual and in person Dean (Enterprise and Business Engagement) farm’s lifetime and that, where when able.

It is expected that highly- skilled jobs in the UK’s offshore wind sector will almost triple from today’s figure of around 9,000 to almost 27,000 by 2030, so it is vital that educational institutions work closely with the industry to ensure the skills are available.

Sofia newsletter delivered to you This edition of the newsletter To minimise the impact on the us know via email has been delivered to addresses environment, we will convert [email protected]. closest to the onshore to eNewsletters in 2021, with To request hard copies, send converter station site. Postcard hard copies available at central your name and postal address, notifications were also delivered locations. If you would like to for electronic versions send us to those living and working (continue to) receive a hard copy of your email address. Please be within 500m of the full cable the newsletter directly please let sure to state your preference. corridor.

To follow the project online, including to view the latest news and updates, visit sofiawindfarm.com

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