RINA appointed for cable quality assurance on Sofia offshore wind farm

RWE Renewables has awarded RINA with a contract for Cable Verification Services & OCP (Offshore Converter Platform) construction site quality assurance services for the 1.4 GW Sofia offshore wind farm in the UK.

The offshore wind farm’s 220-kilometre export cable route will house ±320 kV high-voltage direct current (HVDC) subsea export cables, running from the landfall area to the offshore converter platform, as well as a shorter onshore cable to connect from the landfall area to the onshore converter station.

RINA, which already worked with RWE on the Triton Knoll offshore wind farm, will be providing third party surveillance to support the supply of quality assurance services required to verify the cable design, the manufacturing cycle by inspection, the project specific type test and final acceptance testing (FAT), along with reviewing cable handling and load out procedures.

The full scope of work for the Sofia project will be managed from RINA’s Sunderland office and is expected to bring extensive opportunities to the UK supply base, RINA said.

The export cable for the Sofia offshore wind farm will be delivered by Prysmian under a contract the cable manufacturer signed with RWE in the first quarter of this year.

Prysmian will be responsible for the design, supply, installation and commissioning of the HVDC symmetrical monopole cable system that will connect Sofia’s offshore converter station with the onshore converter station in Teesside. The company will supply more than 440 kilometres of ±320 kV submarine export cables with XLPE insulation, and 15 kilometres of ±320 kV land cables with P-Laser insulation.

The project’s converter stations will be delivered by a consortium of GE Renewable Energy’s Grid Solutions and Sembcorp Marine, which was selected to supply the transmission system for Sofia last year. Last month, Sembcorp Marine started the fabrication of the offshore converter platform.

The 1.4 GW, GBP 3 billion Sofia offshore wind farm will comprise 100 Siemens Gamesa SG 14-222 DD wind turbines scheduled to be fully commissioned in 2026.