TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2020
Dogger Bank Wind Farms, a joint venture between SSE Renewables (Dublin, Ireland) and Equinor (Stavanger, Norway) announced late last month that construction on what will be the world’s largest offshore windfarm has commenced.
The 3.6-gigawatt farm is made up of three smaller farms in the North Sea near the coastal village of Ulrome, East Riding of Yorkshire, England: Creyke Beck A (1.2GW), Creyke Beck B (1.2GW) and Teesside A (1.2GW).
About the Project
According to Reuters, the joint venture won project contracts under Britain’s latest renewable subsidy auction, reported to be a record low for offshore wind. While SSE plans to lead the development and construction phases, Equinor will lead operations once building is complete.
Several months ago, in October, Paris-based division of General Electric, GE Renewable Energy, was selected as the preferred supplier in providing turbines for Britain’s Dogger Bank offshore wind project.
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Dogger Bank Wind Farms, a joint venture between SSE Renewables (Dublin, Ireland) and Equinor (Stavanger, Norway) announced late last month that construction on what will be the world’s largest offshore windfarm has commenced. |
Reported to be the world’s most powerful turbine, GE’s Haliade-X turbine performs with a capacity of 12 megawatts. The turbines for Dogger Bank are being built in GE’s factories located in Saint Nazaire and Cherbourg, France. In addition to becoming carbon neutral by 2050, Britain hopes to achieve a third of its electricity from the wind technology by 2030 and is already reported to host the world’s largest offshore wind market.
Steve Wilson, Managing Director of Dogger Bank Wind Farms, 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 U.K.’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 U.K.’s leading civil engineering contractors, Jones Bros, as we commence construction and start delivering Dogger Bank.”
Between 2020-26, the projects are expected to create 9 billion pounds ($11.1 billion) in capital investments and will be capable of generating enough renewable energy to power over 4.5 million homes each year.
What’s Next
Expected to take roughly two years to complete, awarded civil engineering contractor Jones Bros Civil Engineering (Ruthin, North Wales) will complete vegetation clearance, preparing access junctions and construction of a temporary access road to facilitate the main works, and installation of pre- and post-construction land drainage.
However, that’s just the beginning. Jones Bros main task will be to install the onshore cable infrastructure for the Creyke Beck A and Creyke Beck B sites, among other bulk earthworks to be completed at the onshore HVDC convertor station locations in East Riding.
According to SSE, the onshore infrastructure will require the installation of 20 miles of electrical cables within ducts, which will be installed within trenches and may occasionally require drilling under existing infrastructure.
Once complete, the cables will transport power generated at the A and B sites from a landfall point at Ulrome to the new convertor stations (one per project) in the south of Beverley, connecting an existing National Grid substation at Creyke Beck, Cottingham.
“There will be up to 100 Jones Bros personnel, from management to apprentices and trainees, on site at the height of the works,” said Jones Bros Contracts Director, Garod Evans.“This is a really significant project to be involved with and it’s exciting for us to play a part in delivering support to what will be the world’s biggest offshore wind farm.”
Tagged categories: Business management; Energy efficiency; Green Infrastructure; Ongoing projects; Power; Program/Project Management; Project Management; Wind Towers
