Huge wind turbine ship that attracted attention in Hull completes its first installation at offshore wind farm

Wind turbine installation vessel Wind Peak, which recently sparked social media attention as it dominated the east Hull skyline, has successfully installed the first turbine at a new offshore wind farm.

The huge jack-up vessel, carrying components for six turbines per sail-out from Hull’s Siemens Gamesa plant, will deliver 100 turbines to the Sofia offshore wind farm. The turbines will each stand 252m tall – higher than the buildings at London’s Canary Wharf – and the wind farm is expected to be complete and operational in 2026.

The wind farm project on Dogger Bank, in the central North Sea, is being delivered for RWE, one of the world’s leading offshore wind companies. It said the first turbine installation was a key moment in the construction of one of its largest and most powerful wind farms.

The Wind Peak, a member of the Cadeler fleet, arrived at the offshore site for the first time during the weekend of March 22, where it began and has now completed the installation of the first turbine. During each vessel cycle, the Wind Peak will carry and install six sets of the latest SG 14-222 wind turbines, supplied by Siemens Gamesa.

Thomas Michel, chief operating officer for RWE Offshore Wind, said: “This is yet another great construction milestone for Sofia, one of RWE’s flagship offshore wind farms in the UK. The team and our contractors are making great progress with the construction work both onshore and offshore.

“We’re now looking forward to Sofia making a significant contribution to the UK’s Clean Power 2030 targets, after commissioning, which is expected in 2026.” The Sofia wind farm will comprise 100 Siemens Gamesa 14MW turbines, making it one of the largest single offshore wind farms in the world.

Sofia will generate enough renewable energy to power the equivalent of up to 1.2m typical UK homes. It is on course to be fully operational in the second half of 2026.

The turbines are the engine room of RWE’s 1.4 gigawatts offshore wind farm. Each one stands over 252m above sea level, with blades of 108m sweeping an area of 39,000sq m, which is equivalent to about 5.5 standard UK football pitches.

In a step forward for the offshore wind sector, half of the turbine blades to be installed on the Sofia project will be recyclable. This represents a pioneering step toward full lifecycle sustainability for an offshore wind farm and aligns with RWE’s sustainability ambitions.