Drydocks World hosted a steel cutting ceremony to mark the official start of work on the UK Norfolk Vanguard Offshore Wind Platforms project.

The steel cutting ceremony for the Norfolk Vanguard West and East HVDC Platforms was held at Drydocks World’s yard in Dubai and welcomed the Joint Venture partner for the project, Aker Solutions, the joint contractor Siemens Energy, as well as the developer and owner of the Norfolk offshore wind projects, RWE.

The overall project consists of East and West converter platforms and will be executed over the next five years including both the sail-away and offshore installation. As the first part of the project, the Norfolk Vanguard West HVDC Platform will be used to efficiently transfer electrical energy from offshore wind turbines to land. Major fabrication activities will be conducted at Drydocks World’s yard throughout the year.

The Norfolk Vanguard West and East HVDC platforms, each with a planned capacity of 1.4 GW, will be located in the southern North Sea, 50-80 km from the Norfolk coast in eastern England. The projects will significantly boost the UK’s renewable energy output.

Drydocks World CEO, Capt. Rado Antolovic, PhD, said: “We are very proud to host our partners at the first steel cutting of the Norfolk Vanguard West HVDC Platform, a key component of the planned offshore wind farm. By collaborating with Aker Solutions and Siemens Energy in these projects, we are able to leverage our collective experience in renewable projects and in particular Drydocks World’s expertise in HVDC and HVAC platforms. This is another important step in our commitment to the renewable energy landscape.”

Drydocks World and Aker Solutions entered a pre-commitment agreement in November 2023 for the UK Norfolk Vanguard East and West projects and both final project agreements (PSAs) were signed in February and March this year. The strategic collaboration with Aker Solutions is focused on the engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) and leverages Drydocks World’s extensive expertise in executing major renewable energy projects.

The fabrication of the Norfolk Vanguard West and East platforms will combine capabilities, with Aker Solutions undertaking the substructure fabrication at its yard in Verdal, Norway, while the topside will be fabricated at the Drydocks Worlds shipyard in Dubai.

Drydocks World brings proven capabilities and an in-depth understanding of the intricacies of large-scale renewable projects, having successfully delivered two HVDC and two high voltage alternating current (HVAC) platforms in the North Sea, including the acclaimed DolWin2, BorWin3, and Hollandse Kust Zuid Alpha and Beta projects.