It was learned on April 13, 2024 that the Sofia offshore wind power project developed by RWE plans to start monopile foundation installation work this month. Van Oord’s wind power installation ship Aeolus and special service support vessel (SSSV) Baltic Explorer It is expected to arrive at the offshore construction site in mid-April.

The Sofia offshore wind farm is located in the Dogger Bank area of the central North Sea on the northeast coast of the United Kingdom, 195 kilometers away from the northeast coast of the United Kingdom. It has an installed capacity of 1.4GW. It will install 100 Siemens Gamesa 14MW offshore wind turbines, 44 of which will be equipped with 108-meter-long wind turbines. Recyclable leaves. Van Oord was awarded the EPCI contract for the inter-array cables and monopile foundations of the Sofia project in early 2021. The "Aeolus" will be responsible for transporting and installing 100 monopile foundations, and is scheduled to complete the operation in mid-May 2025. The monopiles, manufactured by EEW Special Pipe Constructions GmbH, have a diameter of 8.8 meters and a length of 91.8 meters. Van Oord will also carry out noise monitoring operations during the installation of the first four monopiles. The company will use the Baltic Explorer to deploy, operate and recover five noise monitoring stations.

The Sofia project is expected to be fully operational in 2026, when it will have sufficient capacity to provide clean electricity supply to nearly 1.2 million households in the UK. This move will make the Sofia project among the largest offshore wind farms in the world.

Aeolus is a vessel built in 2014 with a hull length of approximately 140 meters and a width of approximately 45 meters. It can operate 45 meters underwater and carries 99 crew members. In 2018, the ship's original crane equipment underwent a major upgrade, increasing the original maximum lifting capacity of 900 tons to a Huisman 1,600-ton pile-circling crane. This upgrade significantly increased the lifting capacity by 78 %. In early 2023, the ship underwent a transformation at the Damen shipyard in the Netherlands and a new 133-meter-long crane boom was installed, giving it the ability to install a new generation of 12-15MW offshore wind turbines.

The implementation of the project will help promote the development of clean energy and reduce dependence on traditional energy. Offshore wind power uses wind energy to generate electricity, which is a type of renewable energy. It has the characteristics of zero emission, no pollution and is environmentally friendly. Through the construction and operation of the Sofia project, it can reduce the demand for coal-fired and oil-fired power generation and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, thereby slowing down the speed of global climate change. The Sofia project is scheduled to be completed in 2026, when it will generate enough clean energy to meet the electricity needs of nearly 1.2 million ordinary households in the UK. This will not only help ensure the security of the UK’s energy supply, but also improve the sustainability of its energy supply.Editor/Zhang Liyuan