Equinor and Polenergia have signed reservation agreements with the consortium of Sif and Smulders for the manufacturing of 100 transition pieces (TPs) for the Bałtyk II and Bałtyk III offshore wind projects in Poland .
The developers, through two of their joint venture companies (each for one project), entered agreements for capacity reservation and preliminary work with Sif and Smulders so the Dutch manufacturer and its Belgian partner could commence work and secure key resources before firm order(s) are signed. The latter includes ensuring the availability of an installation port and selected subcontractors.
The reservation agreements will be in force until they are replaced by the final agreements, which are expected to be signed at the end of August 2024.
The scope of work for the Sif-Smulders consortium consists of fabrication of the TPs including shop design, procurement, construction, testing and commissioning.
For the 100 TPs that will be installed on the Bałtyk II and Bałtyk III offshore wind farms, Sif will manufacture the approximately 30 kton primary steel tubulars, including flanges, at its facility in Roermond, the Netherlands.
Smulders will perform the secondary steel scope, coating, electrical system and testing and commissioning. The secondary steel scope will be produced by the Polish facilities of Smulders while the final assembly will take place at the Smulders yard in Hoboken, Belgium.
The reservation agreements for the transition pieces follow the final contracts for 100 monopiles for Bałtyk II and Bałtyk III that Sif signed with Polenergia and Equinor at the beginning of this year.
The Bałtyk II and Bałtyk III offshore wind farms will each have 50 Siemens Gamesa SG 14-236 DD wind turbines making up for 720 MW of installed capacity per wind farm.
The two offshore wind farms are scheduled to come online in 2027.