COWI celebrates contract for Vattenfalls Norfolk Boreas offshore wind farm

22.02.2023

COWI, a leading international engineering consulting group, has been awarded a contract by Vattenfall for the oversight of the detailed design phase of the onshore cable installation for the Norfolk Boreas offshore wind farm. The project is the first phase of Vattenfall’s Norfolk Offshore Wind Zone, located 47 kilometres off the Norfolk coast. Once operational, the zone will have a capacity of 3.6GW, generating enough renewable electricity to power more than 4 million UK homes.

 COWI will review the plans - devised by UK engineering and construction company, J. Murphy & Sons - to install 60km of cables that will connect where the Norfolk Boreas development makes landfall at Happisburgh, to the Necton National Grid substation. Through innovative and coordinated design, the route will also serve the Norfolk Vanguard site to reduce construction times, local disruption and environmental impact.

Crossing a railway line, a National Highways road, and countless local roads and rivers, the project poses several technical challenges which COWI is uniquely positioned to support with. Bringing extensive knowledge from working with National Highways and Network Rail, as well as expertise in tunnelling, trenching, hydrology and electrical design, COWI’s experts will ensure compliance to all technical, safety, quality and sustainability requirements with a focus on reducing environmental impact, where possible.

Rob Anderson, Project Director of Vattenfall’s Norfolk Zone, said “We’re delighted to have COWI on board providing oversight of the work onshore, and making sure that it’s carried out safely and sustainably. This is another step forward for the Norfolk Offshore Wind Zone which is a vital part of the UK’s net zero future and a boost for domestic supply chain and new, green collar jobs.”

 Matthew Viggars, Technical Director at COWI UK at COWI also comments “We’re thrilled to be supporting Vattenfall on this project which will form one of the world’s largest offshore wind zones in the world and play a key role in meeting the UK’s net zero ambitions. We have a real desire to drive forward the UK’s energy transition and our ability to harness several disciplines from our international team of experts puts us in a great position to do so.” 

The announcement adds Norfolk Boreas offshore wind farm to COWI’s large green energy infrastructure portfolio in the UK and Ireland where the company is working on a range of projects including the development of pumped storage schemes, wind, green hydrogen and carbon capture projects. COWI has committed to supporting the development of sustainable energy and recently announced that it would no longer be supporting projects that were developing fossil fuels. As a full-service provider within onshore and offshore wind, COWI has been engineering wind solutions in Europe since 1980 and is also active in Asia Pacific and North America.