Sofia supply chain opportunities in the Tees Valley
Around 200 attendees joined Sofia and engineering contractors Kier Infrastructure and J. Murphy & Sons to find out what is happening on the project and where there are upcoming opportunities,
New phase of construction heralds a welcome return to face-to-face networking
To coincide with the start of a new phase of onshore construction, two of Sofia's key suppliers gave Tees Valley businesses an insight into local contracting opportunities, at a face-to-face event held at Kirkleatham Walled Garden, Teesside.
With construction of Sofia’s onshore converter station kicking off, along with the civil engineering works for the 7km export cable, the two contractors delivering the works, Kier Infrastructure and J. Murphy & Sons, addressed around 200 local business representatives at the event highlighting the contracting and other opportunities.
Working with Sofia’s electrical transmission system contractor, GE’s Grid Solutions, Kier Infrastructure will have a team of around 150 personnel on the Teesside site to construct this key component of the wind farm.
For the onshore cable scope, J. Murphy & Sons is underway with site investigations, fencing and preparatory works on behalf of both Sofia and adjacent development Dogger Bank C, two separate offshore wind projects cooperating closely due to their adjacent locations.
Opportunities to support the two contractors as well as other work packages on Sofia were highlighted at the event, hosted by Tees Engineering Network, and organised by NOF and Energi Coast. The networking event was part of Sofia’s commitment to ensure Tees Valley companies are aware of the ways they could contribute to the successful construction of the 1.4GW offshore wind farm.
Speaking at the start of the event were Jamie Brown, CEO of Francis Brown Ltd, NOF board director and representing Tees Engineering Network, and Graham Wright, Sofia Supply Chain Plan Manager. Both agreed the event was an ideal way to highlight how Tees Valley's exceptional supply chain cluster could contribute to Sofia, a landmark local infrastructure project.
Ron Cumine from Kier Infrastructure, and both Suzanne Cunningham and Scott Marsden from J. Murphy & Sons reiterated their keenness to ensure local and regional suppliers are utilised wherever feasible on their respective scopes of work. They outlined upcoming contracting opportunities for their packages, and announced the names of local suppliers already engaged on the project.
The presentations given by the contractors can be downloaded here: Kier Infrastructure presentation and J. Murphy & Sons presentation.
A short video of the event can be viewed here.
