Smulders HSM, a subsidiary of Eiffage Métal, has commenced the construction of the East Anglia Two offshore substation topside and jacket foundation.
ScottishPower Renewables, part of Iberdrola, awarded an engineering, procurement, construction, installation, and commissioning (EPCIC) contract to HSM Offshore Energy for the offshore substation and jacket foundation in 2025, around the same time Eiffage and HSM announced that Smulders was taking full ownership of the Dutch company.
Initial engineering works for the East Anglia Two offshore substation project began in summer 2024 under an early work agreement.
The topside fabrication is underway at Smulders HSM’s Stormpolder yard in the Netherlands, and the jacket works have been launched at its yard in Newcastle, the UK, the company said on 26 March.
The substation jacket is planned to be installed offshore in 2027, with the topside to follow later in the year.
The 5,100-tonne topside will measure approximately 58 metres in length, 35 metres in width and 30 metres in height, while the jacket will be approximately 40 metres long, 32 metres wide and 58 metres tall, weighing around 3,450 tonnes.
The 960 MW East Anglia Two, which will be built 33 kilometres off the Suffolk coast, was awarded a Contract for Difference (CfD) in the UK government’s Allocation Round 6 (AR6) in September 2024.
In October that year, ScottishPower Renewables awarded Sif and Smulders a contract to supply 64 monopile foundations and transition pieces (TPs) for the offshore wind farm.
The monopiles will be manufactured at Sif’s facility at Maasvlakte 2 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, while the transition pieces will be manufactured in Sif’s production facilities in Roermond (primary steel) and Smulders’ production facilities in Hoboken, Belgium (outfitting).
The East Anglia Two offshore wind farm will feature 64 Siemens Gamesa SG 14-236 DD wind turbines.