RWE has taken the Financial Investment Decision on its 1.4GW flagship Sofia Offshore Wind Farm project. The 100% RWE-owned project represents a total investment of approximately £3billion.The company is now poised to forge ahead with the construction of Sofia, with onshore enabling works due to start this Spring and offshore construction in 2023. Final project completion is expected by Q4 2026. RWE was awarded a Contract for Difference (CfD) for Sofia in 2019, achieving a price of £39.65 per megawatt hour (in 2012 prices).
The consented project is located on Dogger Bank, 195 km from the nearest point on the UK’s North East coast. The project will have a single offshore converter platform, with the electricity generated transported via a high voltage direct current export cable to landfall 220 kilometres away in Redcar, Teesside. Sofia will require a new onshore converter station, and already has an agreed grid connection point at the existing National Grid substation in Lackenby, Teesside, seven kilometres inland. RWE is reviewing port options for the project’s long-term operations & maintenance activity. Preferred Supplier Agreements are already in place for all of Sofia’s key suppliers and RWE will now proceed to finalise contracts with them in the coming weeks.