Sif Netherlands and Smulders will build all 87 monopiles and transition pieces for the third phase of the Dogger Bank wind farm located in the North Sea off the North East coast of England.
After the award in November 2020 of contracts for Dogger Bank A and B, the Dogger Bank wind farm developers have now contracted the Sif-Smulders consortium to manufacture and supply all foundations for the Dogger Bank C phase of the project.
The foundation fabrication and supply are subject to financial close on Dogger Bank C which is foreseen late 2021.
The Dogger Bank wind farm is being developed in three phases – Dogger Bank A, Dogger Bank B, and Dogger Bank C – located more than 130km from the Yorkshire coast. Collectively they will become the world’s largest offshore wind farm when complete.
Dogger Bank A and B is a joint venture between SSE Renewables (40%), Equinor (40%) and Eni (20%). In November 2021 SSE Renewables and Equinor, 50:50 joint venture partners in Dogger Bank C, announced Eni would buy a 20% stake in the final phase, with SSE Renewables and Equinor maintaining 40% stakes each, in a deal that is expected to complete in Q1 2022.
Dogger Bank C, like A and B, will have an installed generation capacity of 1.2GW. Combined, they will have an installed capacity of 3.6GW and will be capable of powering 6 million UK homes. Dogger Bank C is expected to require 87 foundations. Water depths at Dogger Bank vary up to 31 meters. Each foundation comprises a monopile and a transition piece.
Sif-Smulders Worksope
In the project-specific Sif-Smulders consortium, Sif is responsible for the fabrication and supply of monopiles and primary steel for the transition pieces, and for the marshaling of all foundation components at its Maasvlakte 2 Rotterdam terminal. Smulders will manufacture secondary steel and assemble, coat, and test fully equipped transition pieces.
Dogger Bank Wind Farm Project Director, Steve Wilson, said: “We’re delighted to expand our ongoing work with Sif and Smulders on the first two phases of the windfarm with this contract for DBC. The consortium will supply monopiles and transition pieces that are among the largest to be installed on any offshore wind farm and which continue to push the boundaries of foundation design.”
Fred van Beers, CEO of Sif Holding said: "We are honored by the confidence in our company that the developers of Dogger Bank Wind Farm express in their award of part C of the Dogger Bank Wind Farm to Sif. Together with phases A and B of Dogger Bank, Dogger Bank C extends our order book to well into 2024, allowing us time to prepare for expected demand for larger foundations for the period 2025 and beyond.
"With more than 400 Kton for the years 2022 and beyond, our order book covers a more than 2 years production period. The Dogger Bank C was already included in our order book as a project under exclusive negotiations. We are a proud partner to Equinor/SSE/ENI for the landmark Dogger Bank Wind Farm project”.
Raf Iemants, Managing Director of Smulders said: “Smulders looks forward to continuing our partnership with SSE/Equinor for Dogger Bank C together with Sif. We are proud that we can share our knowledge and expertise and deliver the transition pieces for all three phases of the world’s largest offshore wind farm.”