SSE Renewables and Norwegian energy company Equinor have started construction of the 3.6GW Dogger Bank offshore wind farm to be located 130km off the North East coast in the North Sea.
Dogger Bank, which will include three individual wind farms Creyke Beck A, Creyke Beck B and Teesside A, each with 1.2GW of capacity, was selected by the UK government during last September’s Contracts for Difference (CfD) auctions.
Creyke Beck A wind farm is expected to cover an area of 515km² and will be 131km at its closest point to the shore. Creyke Beck B will occupy an area of 599km² of space and Teesside A will occupy 560km².
Dogger Bank could power up to 4.5 million UK homes every year
When completed, the Dogger Bank wind farm is expected to generate enough clean energy to power 4.5 million UK homes annually.
The wind farm will include GE’s newly introduced Haliade-X wind turbine, which is capable of generating 12MW of energy.
UK-based civil engineering contractor Jones Bros Civil Engineering was selected to install onshore cable infrastructure for the Creyke Beck A and Creyke Beck B sites. The works will also include completing bulk earthworks at the onshore HVDC convertor station locations in East Riding.
Onshore infrastructure includes installing nearly 32km of electrical cables within ducts.
The onshore cable will transmit the power generated from the two offshore wind farms Creyke Beck A and Creyke Beck B from the Ulrome to the new convertor stations in the south of Beverley. The cables will then be connected to the existing National Grid substation at Creyke Beck, Cottingham.
Dogger Bank Wind Farms managing director Steve Wilson said: “Getting the first spade in the ground is a significant milestone on any project, but for what will be the world’s largest offshore wind farm, this is a major moment for a project that has already been over a decade in the making.
“Dogger Bank Wind Farms will play a critical role in the UK’s effort to achieve net-zero through the use of low-carbon fuel sources and we’re incredibly pleased to work with one of the UK’s leading civil engineering contractors, Jones Bros, as we commence construction and start delivering Dogger Bank.”
