Supplier Engagement Platform

EVENTS FOR SUPPLIERS

2021

Offshore Wind North East 2021 - 1 and 2 December 2021

Sofia will be a Strategic Partner at this year's Offshore Wind North East Conference and Exhibition, being held at the Beacon of Light in Sunderland on 1 and 2 December, 2021. For information about the event and to book tickets visit the OWNE 2021 Eventbrite page.

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 (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 four webinars were run on July 6 (Van Oord), 7 (GE's Grid Solutions and Sembcorp Marine) and 8 (Prysmian), and September 13 (SGRE) but you can view them via the recordings below. Further supply chain/showcase webinars are likely as the project progresses.

* Presence at live events will be COVID-19 dependent.

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)

Episode 4: SGRE

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. 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

SUPPLIER CASE STUDIES

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.

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.

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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