Cable construction started for 1.4 GW Offshore Wind Farm in UK

Cable contractor Prysmian’s Leonardo da Vinci vessel has started laying the first section of high voltage direct current (HVDC) export cable for RWE’s 1.4 GW Sofia Offshore Wind Farm in the UK.

Situated on Dogger Bank, approximately 195 km from the closest point on the UK's northeast coast, Sofia Offshore Wind Farm will feature a single offshore converter platform. The electricity generated will be transmitted to landfall, situated 220 km away in Redcar, Teesside. The wind farm will feature 100 Siemens Gamesa 14 MW offshore wind turbines enough to generate energy to power nearly 1.2 million homes annually.

Prysmian's 170 m vessel, based at the Port of Middlesbrough, will lay two 130 km cable sections parallelly, beginning just off the Teesside coast near Redcar and Marske-by-the-Sea. The cables will pass under the beach, sand dunes, and road before emerging at the construction compound. The vessel will continue to lay the full cable length to the offshore wind farm. Two more 90 km marine export cable sections will be installed in 2024. The wind project is aiming for completion by end-2026.