Supplier Portal

Sofia will need competent, innovative and experienced suppliers to take the project from plans to reality. This portal gives you the opportunity to register your company's interest, search for suppliers, find out about contracting opportunities and read case studies of existing Sofia suppliers.

SUPPLIER DATABASE

All potential suppliers who have registered their details with the Sofia Supplier Database can be found here. If you are looking for goods or services related to the project, please follow this link to the search function.

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EVENTS FOR SUPPLIERS

2023

Offshore construction supply chain event (Port of Blyth, 14 September 2023)

A supply chain event will be held in conjunction with relevant Sofia suppliers to provide details of local contracting opportunities related to the project's offshore construction. More details to come closer to the event.

Offshore Wind North East 2023 (Sunderland, 8-9 November 2023)

Offshore Wind North East (OWNE) is the leading event offshore wind energy event in the region. Organised by NOF in conjunction with Energi Coast, this year's event is set to feature more than 130 exhibitors and 900 attendees. For more information visit the event page here.

2022 (past events)

Offshore Wind North East 2022 (Sunderland, 9-10 November 2022)

Sofia was once again a Strategic Partner with the North East's flagship offshore wind event: Offshore Wind North East. It was the busiest and most successful of the annual events with more than 900 delegates and in excess of 130 exhibitors. OWNE, was organised by NOF in partnership with North East England’s offshore wind cluster, Energi Coast.

Seeking innovators - introducing RWE's Launch Academy challenges in partnership with ORE Catapult (Webinar, 11am, 4 November 2022)

This webinar introduced companies to ORE Catapult's Launch Academy and detailed the challenges, set by RWE through Sofia Offshore Wind Farm. The Launch Academy is a transformative technology accelerator for the offshore wind sector and this year RWE's Sofia has set challenges in three key areas: autonomous technologies for offshore wind, bird monitoring and protection and cables. If you missed it you can view the webinar video here. Applications for the Launch Academy are open until November 30 and details on what is being sought and how to apply can be found on the ORE Catapult website.

Tier 1 supplier showcase Episode IV: SGRE and Cadeler (Hull, 7 July 2022)

Suppliers attended this face-to-face event with Sofia's turbine supplier Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE) and their chosen vessel contractor Cadeler to hear all about the contracting opportunities available on the Sofia. The powerpoint presentations can be reviewed here for reference.

Global Offshore Wind 2022 (Manchester, 21-22 June 2022)

RWE is a strategic event partner for this year's Renewable UK Global Offshore Wind 2022 and team members from Sofia will be joining the stand to talk to stakeholders and suppliers about the project, its progress and programme. For more information about Global Offshore Wind 2022 visit the event webpage. 

Offshore Wind Connections (Bridlington, 27-28 April 2022)

RWE representatives, including from Sofia, were at this Team Humber Marine Alliance/Grimsby Renewables Partnership event, talking to potential suppliers, and those with an interest in the project. For information about upcoming events from the newly merged organisation - Humber Marine and Renewables - visit their website here. 

Sofia in the Tees Valley: update and opportunities (Friday 11 March 2022)

Around 200 attended this live networking event hosted by Tees Engineering Network (TEN), organised by NOF / Energi Coast with presentations from Sofia and two of our key contractors working on the project in Tees Valley. Kier Infrastructure, constructing Sofia's onshore converter station on behalf of GE's Grid Solutions and J. Murphy & Sons Limited responsible for the civils works for the onshore cable route for both Sofia and adjacent Dogger Bank C. 

The presentations can be downloaded here: Sofia overview, J. Murphy & Sons, and Kier Infrastructure.

 

2021

Offshore Wind North East 2021 (1 and 2 December 2021)

Sofia was a Strategic Partner at this year's Offshore Wind North East Conference and Exhibition, at the Beacon of Light in Sunderland on 1 and 2 December, 2021. Around 800 attendees were at the event which included presentations from Sofia's Project Director Matthew Swanwick and Senior Project Manager Jonathan Grigg.

Understanding the supply chain webinar (October 2021)

This joint Sofia and Van Oord webinar held on Tuesday, 19 October gave an insight into how to productively work with the project and its Tier 1 suppliers and explained how the offshore wind tier system works, and how barriers can be broken down. It also covered what Tier 1 contractors look for from their own suppliers (incorporating Van Oord) and guidance on next steps for suppliers further down the supply chain to get involved on Sofia

The webinar is now available to view online here: Understanding the supply chain webinar.

Tier 1 supplier showcase and introductions (July and September 2021)

Sofia and our Tier 1 contractors are committed to the development and growth of a competitive UK supply chain. To support this a series of supply chain webinars was held to showcase contract opportunities during construction. The first three showcase webinars were run on July 6 (Van Oord), July 7 (GE's Grid Solutions and Sembcorp Marine) and July 8 (Prysmian), with an introduction to SGRE being run on September 13. You can view them via the recordings below. Further supply chain events (face-to-face or webinar) will take place as the project progresses.

 

VIEW SHOWCASE WEBINAR RECORDINGS

Episode 1: Van Oord

Van Oord will be looking for support for the packages listed here. To watch the webinar click the link below.

Foundations - goods and support services: concrete structures (main access platform); secondary steel; cathodic protection; barges and tugs; marshalling ports; davit cranes; offshore communication system, and structural health monitoring system.

Array cables - goods and support services: cable protection systems; cable hang-offs; testing & termination works; transportation and logistics services for array cables; connectors; fibre optic patch panels, and cable cleats

Transport, vessels, lifting & logistics: mobile cranes, self-propelled modular transport, concrete support blocks; lifting equipment & tools; CTVs and SOV plus sea freight; gas/fuel & offshore temporary power; port agents & wharfage, and logistics & parcel services.

Site related: temporary site infrastructure - fencing, lighting & utilities; welfare/storage facilities, security & waste removal; civil works & site machinery, and temporary site office / portacabins.

General - goods and support services: accommodation - hotels and serviced apartments; office supplies (stationery and IT); PPE; mechanical & electrical consumables, and signage / branded merchandise.

Click to view webinar (Van Oord)

Episode 2: GE's Grid Solutions & Sembcorp Marine

GE's Grid Solutions and Sembcorp Marine will be looking for support for the packages listed here. To watch the webinar click the link below.

Onshore converter station: 400kV AC cable civil works & erection; civil works design & activity including site machinery, mechanical and electrical personnel

Building services and temporary site infrastructure: temporary site office, portacabins, fire protection, fencing, lighting and utilities

Welfare/storage facilities: security/CCTV, waste removal and cleaning

Construction materials: Type 1 stone, 6F2 stone fill, Geotextile and clean stone chippings; precast foundations, Tarmacadam and palisade fence; bunds, fire walls and floor slab; building steelwork and cladding, and manholes, drainage pipes

Electrical: surge arresters, resistors, reactors, cubicles, control boxes, connectors, steel structures, ACDC auxiliary services, HV-MV-LV cables.

Support services: Accommodation (hotels); office supplies (stationery / IT); PPE; mechanical & electrical consumables, and signage / branded merchandise.

Offshore converter station: Onshore / offshore logistics; warehousing; marine transportation, sea freight & services, and customs clearance management.

Click to view webinar (GE/SM)

Episode 3: Prysmian

Prysmian will be looking for support for the packages listed here. To watch the webinar click the link below.

  • Pre-lay survey
  • Horizontal directional drilling (HDD)
  • Boulder clearance
  • Route clearance/Pre-lay grapnel run (RC/PLGR)
  • Mattressing
  • Shore end works
  • Pulling at platform
  • Cable protection system (CPS)
  • Rock dumping
  • Guard vessel(s)
  • Crew transfer vessels (CTV) and or heli-service
  • Onshore installation

Click to view webinar (Prysmian)

An introduction to: SGRE on Sofia

The procurement activity from Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy is due to ramp up in 2023 so this webinar provided a long-range view of the types of scopes the company will be looking for on Sofia and the timeframes. A further event to showcase the specific cotracts available will be held in 2022. To watch the webinar click the link below.

In addition to all of the turbine-related components, Sofia project opportunities are likely to include:

Catalogue items: such as office supplies, travel services, rental cars, hotels etc., IT, trainings, mailing services 

Services and goods likely to be project specific and relating to: logistics, construction, pre-assembly and site set-up of for pre-assembly plus harbour commissioning. There will also be civil works, fabrication of noncritical items, plant hire, personnel safety equipment and warehouse articles.

The webinar also covered key facts and figures about the project, indicative timeline and some details about SGRE's pre-assembly location in Green Port Hull and the planned blade factory expansion.

Click to view the webinar (SGRE)

CONTRACTING OPPORTUNITIES

Contracting opportunities direct with both Sofia and also with our main contractors will be posted here as the project progresses.

Date Start Package Brief Scope Contractor Date Close Further Details

SUPPLIER CASE STUDIES

View all supplier case studies

SUPPLIER CASE STUDIES

View all supplier case studies

KEY COMPONENT SUPPLIERS

Sofia has signed contracts with suppliers for each of the key components of the wind farm. Most of the supply chain opportunities for the wind farm's construction will be through these Tier 1 (and their Tier 2) suppliers:

Turbines

Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy will supply 100 of its new state-of the-art 14MW machines to the project. It will be the first offshore wind farm in the world to use these turbines.

HVDC transmission system

A consortium of GE's Grid Solutions and Sembcorp Marine has carried out early works and will supply the two HVDC converter stations - one onshore and one offshore - and the offshore converter platform.  

Submarine and land export cables

Prysmian Group will provide a turn-key high voltage submarine and land export cable connection, including use of brand-new cable installation vessel Leonardo da Vinci and innovative cable technology.

Foundations and array cables

Van Oord will be responsible for the engineering, procurement, construction and installation of both the monopile foundations and array cables for the project. Through its UK branch MPI Offshore, Van Oord will create a logistics hub on the North East to deliver the comprehensive scope of work.

Tier 2 suppliers

To find out who the project's Tier 2 suppliers are please visit our onshore construction and offshore construction pages.

ADVICE FOR SUPPLIERS

View tips for existing and potential suppliers to Sofia Offshore Wind Farm from the Sofia procurement team here.

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