Aker Solutions and Siemens Energy firm up Norfolk wind farm deal with Vattenfall
A consortium of preferred bidders Aker Solutions and Siemens Energy has been awarded a limited notice to proceed contract from Swedish utility Vattenfall for the Norfolk Boreas offshore wind project off the coast of the UK.
For the project, Aker Solutions and Siemens Energy will provide the grid connection infrastructure for the wind farm, including the engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) of the high voltage direct current (HVDC) offshore platform, onshore substation and connection to the national grid.
The project is subject to regulatory approvals and Vattenfall’s final investment decision (FID) is expected during the second quarter of 2023. Aker Solutions said it would at this stage book a sizeable order intake between NOK500m ($46m) and NOK1.5bn ($138m) reflecting the compensated work that is to be performed until the expected FID next year. Further to this, Aker Solutions estimates a contract value for the company following FID to be in the range of NOK2.5bn to NOK3.5bn.
“The development of Norfolk Offshore Wind Zone could require up to three HVDC platforms in succession, which would provide more long-term predictability and positive repeat effects and standardization for the supplier industry. Together with Siemens Energy, we are proud to support a project which meets the dual objective of developing local content while delivering low cost, green electricity to homes and businesses across the UK,” said Kenneth Simonsen, senior vice president of offshore wind at Aker Solutions.
Located more than 47 km off the Norfolk coast and with an installed capacity of 1.4 GW, Norfolk Boreas is the first phase of Vattenfall’s Norfolk offshore wind zone and comes ahead of the Norfolk Vanguard offshore wind farm. This first phase of the Norfolk zone will deliver first power in the mid-to-late-2020s. Once complete, the Zone will produce enough renewable electricity to power more than 4m homes and save around 6m tonnes of CO2.
