Sofia stakeholder engagement roadshow

Sofia stakeholder engagement roadshow

This December the Sofia project was pleased to host RWE’s community benefits and sustainability project manager, Maren Duprés, who visited from the company’s head office in Germany to see the diverse range of community projects being supported by the Sofia Offshore Wind Farm.   

Education

The first engagement was at Healing School, where Maren met Sofia STEM consultant Mike Cargill met with school principal Stephen Logan to see Sofia’s Champions for Wind education programme in action. The programme works with teachers to develop tailored curriculum materials in their specialist subject, with a focus on offshore wind and its careers.

Champions for Wind has just launched its first cohort in North East Lincolnshire after three successful cohorts in Redcar and Cleveland.  

Environment

The second stop saw Maren head to the famous Yorkshire seaside town of Whitby, to visit the charity North Sea Conservation. NSC is the team behind the Whitby Marine Discovery Centre, home of the Whitby Lobster Hatchery, which the Sofia project has supported since 2022.  

Maren joined Sofia’s communications and stakeholder manager, Jonny Brownsteen, meeting Joe Redfern, director of the Marine Discovery Centre, for a tour of the hatchery.

Maren learned how Sofia’s sponsorship has helped to fund an innovative project aimed at protecting lobster stocks from overfishing, thereby safeguarding an essential regional industry and also protecting the integrity of the marine environment. 

RWE is now working with NSC on plans to create new office premises, which will include increase the charity’s capacity for further projects. Watch this space for further announcements. Together, RWE is helping the charity in its efforts to support a sustainable future for the Yorkshire coast and the local Whitby area.  

Construction

On Thursday, along with Jonny, Maren stopped at the Sofia Onshore Converter Station in Redcar. Meeting with Matt Archer, site manager, they took a tour around the station that is set to complete mid-2025. With a project area and compound of 34,000m2, the onshore converter station will convert the electricity generated by the wind farm to 400 kV, before it enters the national grid. 

Maren said: “The onshore converter station is incredibly impressive. Visiting it firsthand helped me to see the great progress we are making toward our goal of a sustainable future.” 

Careers

For the final day of the Sofia Community Engagement Roadshow 2024, Maren started the day by attending a stakeholder breakfast briefing at Energy Central Learning Hub. Sofia has recently partnered with the Energy Central Campus, a new £15 million STEM educational and vocational training facility for the clean energy sector. 

Maren heard from guest speakers from the Port of Blyth, Northumberland County Council, Bede Academy and our own Graham Wright, senior supply chain manager for Sofia. The presentations discussed plans for education, training and apprenticeships in clean energy. 

Maren said: “I was inspired by my visit to the campus, it’s great to witness such optimism about the future. Educational facilities such as this help us prepare to deliver the talent needed for the future.” 

To end the week, the team was delighted to make a donation of toys, games, warm clothing and gift sets to Operation Elf, the Port of Blyth’s toy appeal. 

That’s a wrap! Thank you to those who spent time meeting Maren and showing the community projects across Sofia.