UK-based SLPE has been awarded a contract by EnBW for foundation engineering on the 1 GW Dreekant offshore wind farm in the German North Sea. SLPE will lead concept, FEED and detailed design of the foundations, with the project positioned to strengthen Europe's growing offshore wind engineering pipeline.

Dreekant is being developed in the German Exclusive Economic Zone, in the N-12.3 area approximately 120km northwest of Heligoland, covering roughly 80 km² with water depths ranging from 37 to 46 metres. EnBW secured the development rights for the site in June 2024 and plans to submit the project's approval application in 2027, with the final investment decision expected in 2029.

Under the contract, SLPE will provide engineering services covering the concept, front-end engineering design and detailed design of the wind turbine foundations. Following completion of the detailed design phase, the company is expected to continue supporting the project through fabrication, installation and commissioning.

SLPE, part of the Smulders group, previously delivered foundation concept design for the Inch Cape offshore wind farm in Scotland before securing the detailed design contract in 2021. The Dreekant award adds to SLPE's growing portfolio of large-scale offshore wind foundation engineering work.

Joseph Hilton, Managing Director at SLPE, said: "We are delighted to have been awarded this major contract by EnBW for the Dreekant offshore wind farm. This is a significant milestone for SLPE and reflects the strength of our engineering capability, our growing reputation in the offshore wind sector and the trust our clients place in our team." Hilton added: "Working directly with an established offshore wind developer on a project of this scale is an important step forward for SLPE."

Hilton said: "Dreekant will provide our team with an exciting opportunity to apply our specialist expertise across concept, FEED and detailed design, while supporting the project through its subsequent stages."

The structural driver is the technical complexity of designing foundations for GW-scale offshore wind farms in deeper water, as European developers push turbine capacity and site depth beyond earlier generations of projects. EnBW separately awarded German engineering firm Jörss-Blunck-Ordemann contracts for geotechnical work and pre-FEED design on Dreekant in 2024.

For the sector, the Dreekant project is planned to enter operation in 2032, adding to a pipeline of GW-scale North Sea offshore wind projects requiring specialist foundation engineering as Europe scales its offshore wind capacity.

Source: offshorewind.biz / marinetechnologynews.com