Jones Bros appointed for Sofia and Dogger Bank C enabling works

Civil engineering company appointed to two offshore wind farm projects

A UK civil engineering company has been awarded the contract to prepare a site for the construction of the onshore converter stations for both Sofia and Dogger Bank C - two major offshore wind energy developments in the North East of England.

Jones Bros Civil Engineering UK has been appointed to deliver the enabling works package for the onshore converter station platforms for both projects onsite near Redcar, Teesside

The Jones Bros. works will include providing a level load-bearing stone platform for the converter stations; two new accesses to the site with associated bellmouths; welfare and laydown areas; drainage system, and associated utilities.

Between 25 and 30 workers will be on site at any one time, with completion scheduled for April 2022.

Sofia is owned by RWE while Dogger Bank C, the third phase of the Dogger Bank Project, is owned jointly by Equinor and SSE Renewables, who also own Dogger Bank A and Dogger Bank B, along with ENI. As the projects are owned and led by different developers, reaching this stage has required a high level of cooperation and agreement.

Jones Bros is also working on the onshore infrastructure for the Dogger Bank A and Dogger Bank B project phases, 70 miles south near Hull, in East Riding of Yorkshire.

The new contract win for the civil engineering firm is also expected to deliver opportunities for apprenticeships locally as well as for suppliers such as fencing, haulage and materials suppliers.

Eryl Roberts, contracts director at North Wales-headquartered Jones Bros, said: “We’re very pleased to be continuing our relationship with SSE and Equinor, both of whom are involved with Dogger Bank A and B, and look forward to developing our relationship with RWE.

“Both Sofia and Dogger Bank C are significant projects in their own right and will deliver 1.4GW and 1.2GW of renewable power respectively once complete.

“As with all of our projects, we will look to provide opportunities locally in the supply chain as well as for apprentices.

Work is now underway and is expected to take approximately 10 months to complete.

Sofia Project Director Matthew Swanwick said: “This is a unique and complex project given the close cooperation between two separate wind farm developers, to the point of sharing a contractor for the early onshore construction activity, and so we welcome being able to leverage the breadth of experience Jones Bros. has had on previous UK infrastructure projects.”

Dogger Bank Wind Farm Project Director, Steve Wilson, said: “This is a great opportunity for us to extend our collaboration with UK-based Jones Bros, following the start on the first two phases of the wind farm in East Riding. We’re also delighted to be working with Sofia Wind Farm in an innovative way, to ensure the impact on the local community on Teesside is minimal.”

For more information visit Jones Bros website.