11th April 2025 in Project news
Dogger Bank Wind Farm has submitted a request to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero to amend the wording in its Development Consent Order, to allow for phases A and B of the project to progress separately through the OFTO sales process. As part of this application and in line with the Planning Act 2008, we have now opened a formal period of consultation with stakeholders on the proposed wording amendments.
Further details of this process are available in the Reg 6 notice below:
SECTION 153 OF THE PLANNING ACT 2008 REGULATION 6 OF THE INFRASTRUCTURE PLANNING (CHANGES TO, AND REVOCATION OF, DEVELOPEMNT CONSENT ORDERS) REGULATIONS 2011 NOTICE OF APPLICATION TO MAKE A NON-MATERIAL CHANGE TO THE FOLLOWING DEVELOPMENT CONSENT ORDER: THE DOGGER BANK CREYKE BECK OFFSHORE WIND FARM ORDER 2015 (AS AMENDED) (S.I. 2015/318)
REF: EN010021
- An application has been made by Doggerbank Offshore Wind Farm Project 1 Projco Limited (“Projco 1”) and Doggerbank Offshore Wind Farm Project 2 Projco Limited (“Projco 2”) (together the “Applicant”) to the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero to make a non-material change (“NMC”) to the above mentioned Development Consent Order (the “DCO”) (ref: EN010021).
- The DCO granted development consent to Doggerbank Project 1 Bizco Limited (“Bizco 1”) for “Project A” and Doggerbank Project 4 Bizco Limited (“Bizco 4”) for “Project B” – two offshore wind turbine generating stations each comprising up to 200 wind turbine generators and associated development in the Dogger Bank Zone and the East Riding of Yorkshire. Bizco 1 was renamed at Companies House as Projco 1, and Project A was renamed Dogger Bank A (herein “DBA”). Bizco 4 was renamed at Companies House as Projco 2 and Project B was renamed Dogger Bank B (herein “DBB”).
- The application seeks to make non-material changes to the drafting of the DCO by amending the wording of certain definitions, articles and paragraphs of schedules to allow DBA and DBB to be considered separately, and for the discharge and enforcement of each project’s relevant requirements to be distinct from the other project.
- The contact details of the Applicant are:
Doggerbank Offshore Wind Farm Project 1 Projco Limited and Doggerbank Offshore Wind Farm Project 2 Projco Limited at No. 1 Forbury Place 43 Forbury Road, Reading, United Kingdom, RG1 3JH.
5. Email contact is possible by contacting:
DoggerBankConsentsConsultations@sse.com.
6. The application documents and details of the changes proposed by this NMC Application are available for inspection, free of charge, at the “Documents” tab on the National Infrastructure Planning Portal’s Dogger Bank Creyke Beck page here: https://national-infrastructure-consenting.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/projects/EN010021
7. For general enquiries on how to obtain any of the documents or on the information contained within them, please contact the Applicant (DoggerBankConsentsConsultations@sse.com).
8. A free digital copy of the application documents can also be obtained from the Applicant using the contact details provided above. This will be available until the deadline for responses set out below closes. Alternatively, a paper copy can be obtained from the Applicant for a charge of £300.
9. Please send any representations about the application by email to the Planning Inspectorate at:
DBCreykeBeck@planninginspectorate.gov.uk
or in writing to:
Major Applications & Plans, The Planning Inspectorate, Temple Quay House, 2 The Square Temple Quay, Bristol BS1 6PN.
Please quote ‘Dogger Bank Creyke Beck’ on any correspondence. Any representations received by the Secretary of State in response to the consultation will be published on the Planning Inspectorate’s Infrastructure Planning Portal (https://national-infrastructure-consenting.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/) with all personal information removed.
10. The deadline for receipt of representations is 23:59 on 23 May 2025.
Doggerbank Offshore Wind Farm Project 1 Projco Limited and Doggerbank Offshore Wind Farm Project 2 Projco Limited
11th April 2025 in Construction, Press releases, Project news, Supply Chain
Dogger Bank Wind Farm has signed a contract with Seaway7, part of the Subsea7 Group, to charter a second turbine installation vessel to support the ongoing delivery of the offshore wind farm off the coast of England.
This contract signing follows on from the earlier reservation agreement between Dogger Bank Wind Farm and Seaway7, announced in December 2024.
Under the contract, the Seaway Ventus jack-up installation vessel will commence turbine transport and installation work of GE Vernova Haliade-X offshore wind turbines at the Dogger Bank site in mid-2026.
This contract represents additional work for Seaway7 at the Dogger Bank development where the company already has the contracts for transport and installation of the monopile foundations and transition pieces on all three phases of the project, with the works on Dogger Bank A complete and the works on Dogger Bank B substantially complete.
Turbine installation and commissioning work is continuing at Dogger Bank A, with completion of the first phase of the offshore wind farm expected in the second half of calendar year 2025.
When fully complete, Dogger Bank will be the world’s largest offshore wind farm, capable of powering around 6 million UK homes annually.
Dogger Bank Wind Farm is a joint venture between SSE Renewables (40%), Equinor (40%) and Vårgrønn (20%). SSE Renewables is leading construction of the project on behalf of the three joint venture partners. Equinor will be lead operator of the wind farm on completion for its expected operational life of around 35 years.
14th May 2024 in Construction, Press releases, Project news
Image: Seaway7’s vessel Seaway Strashnov in operations on Dogger Bank Wind Farm.
The team working on what will be the world’s largest offshore wind farm, Dogger Bank, have started work on the foundation installation campaign for the second phase of the development.
Seaway7’s vessels Seaway Strashnov and Seaway Alfa Lift have commenced installation of monopile foundations and transition pieces for the Dogger Bank B phase of the offshore wind farm project.
The team recently completed installation of all 95 transition pieces on Dogger Bank A, thus concluding the installation of the foundations for the first phase of the project.
Olly Cass, Dogger Bank Wind Farm Project Director, said:
“These installation milestones are the result of years of commitment and diligence from the project team and its delivery partners. As the world’s largest wind farm of its kind and due to the deployment of new turbine technology, every aspect of the wind farm has required us to come up with new innovative design and engineering solutions that will shape the future construction of offshore wind globally. We extend our thanks and congratulations to the many companies and individuals who’ve risen to this challenge and contributed to the milestone we’re celebrating today.”
Wouter van Dalen, Project Director, Seaway7, said:
“We are happy to welcome Seaway Strashnov back to the project to commence foundation installation on Dogger Bank B – leading on from the vessel’s good performance last year on Dogger Bank A. After introducing our brand-new heavy lift vessel Seaway Alfa Lift to the project in October, the vessel operated through the high weather season installing transition pieces on Dogger Bank A, and now continues this work in phase B. The foundation installation scope is making excellent progress, enabled by our strong collaboration with our client Dogger Bank Wind Farm and our subcontractors.”
The monopile foundations and transition pieces provide a solid and stable base for the scale of GE Vernova’s groundbreaking 13MW Haliade-X turbines. The monopile and transition piece structures were manufactured by Sif and Smulders and are being installed 80-miles off the Yorkshire coast by tier one contractor Seaway7.
Monopiles are the large-diameter tube-shaped steel structures that are installed in the seabed by the vessel using dynamic positioning technology.
The monopiles weigh in at up to 1,424 tonnes each and can measure up to 72.8 metres in length. The Dogger Bank transition pieces feature a pioneering split-level design to support safe installation and operation and have a record-breaking 8m flange to connect the monopiles and transition piece structures.
Confirmation of this offshore milestone on Dogger Bank B follows on from the successful installation of the offshore HVDC platform for the second phase of the wind farm in April.
A total of 277 monopiles and transition pieces will be installed across all three phases of the wind farm, with completion due in 2026.
Steel manufactured by Tata Steel in Wales and processed in Corby and Hartlepool is being used in the supporting components of the transition pieces, while South Tyneside-based Metec and Rochdale-based Granada Material Handling have also won contracts with Smulders to support this innovative and world-leading project.
Designed in the UK by experts from Wood Thilsted, Dogger Bank Wind Farm’s foundations have been optimised to tackle challenging wave loads in the Dogger Bank area of the North Sea, with installation in water depths of up to 32m and at a minimum distance of 130km from shore.
3rd August 2023 in Press releases, Project news
The campaign to install the first of 277 turbines at the world’s largest offshore wind farm is underway, marking a major advance in the industry and speeding up the transition to a cleaner, more secure energy system.
The 260m tall turbines – which are almost twice the height of the London Eye – will be installed c.80 miles off the coast of Yorkshire using a specialist vessel, the ‘Voltaire’, with a lifting capacity of 3,200 tonnes, the largest of its kind in the world.
Work to install the first 260m turbine is expected to begin at the weekend.
The scale of Dogger Bank Wind Farm is immense, occupying an area almost as large as Greater London, on seabed that once formed a land bridge between the UK and Europe. When fully complete it will have an installed capacity of 3.6GW of renewable electricity – more than two and a half times the size of the next largest offshore wind farm* – and be capable of producing enough clean energy to power the equivalent of 6 million homes annually^.
On a visit to Able Seaton Port in the North East of England to mark the occasion, Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden said:
“I am pleased to be here in Hartlepool today as we install the first wind turbine at the new Dogger Bank offshore wind farm. This project will generate cheap, clean energy to power millions of homes and provide the UK with greater energy independence in the face of Putin’s energy ransom. Disruption to global energy supplies is one of the key risks we’ve highlighted in our new National Risk Register and working with the Dogger Bank partners, we are making Britain more secure.”
The commencement of the campaign to install GE Renewable Energy’s 13MW Haliade-X turbines, one of the largest and most powerful in the world, is a pivotal moment for the landmark project, which is being developed and built by the UK developer SSE Renewables in a joint venture with Norway’s Equinor and Vårgrønn (a joint venture by Eni Plenitude and Hitec Vision). It also represents a major milestone for the UK’s global leadership on offshore wind.
SSE CEO, Alistair Phillips-Davies said:
“Dogger Bank is one of the biggest and most complex engineering and infrastructure projects anywhere in the world.
“Our progress here with our joint venture partners Equinor and Vårgrønn proves that offshore wind projects of this size are now mainstream and will help turbocharge the transition to the cheaper, cleaner and more secure energy system we all want to see.
“It is action, not ambition, that will secure our energy future and this project shows action on a massive scale. But we will need many more Dogger Banks to achieve our goals and we look forward to working with government to bring forward more projects at pace.”
Equinor EVP Renewables, Pål Eitrheim said:
“The imminent installation of the first turbine at Dogger Bank is a testament to the determination of the UK Government, the project partners, and the supply chain to deliver a world-class offshore wind project for the UK. To reach our net zero goals, we will need even more of this collaboration. We’re delighted to soon begin operating Dogger Bank from our new O&M base at the Port of Tyne, which will host 400 jobs over the 35-year lifetime of the wind farm. We look forward to seeing the 277 turbines installed safely over the next three years, generating green electricity at scale and powering millions of British homes.”
Vårgrønn CEO, Olav Hetland, said:
“Dogger Bank shows that extensive collaboration is key to developing offshore wind farms that provide power at scale while driving innovation.
“Getting to this milestone has relied on the efforts of a huge number of local and international suppliers, and together we have now moved the boundaries of what is possible in offshore wind.
“Dogger Bank now cements the North Sea’s new role as Europe’s renewable power plant and as the home to a world-leading offshore wind supply chain.”
SSE Renewables is lead operator for the development and construction of Dogger Bank Wind Farm. Equinor will be lead operator of the wind farm on completion for its expected operational life of around 35 years. Vårgrønn brings specialist offshore wind expertise to the project.
Dogger Bank has created and supported more than 2,000 jobs, principally in the North East of England. Construction on this scale in the challenging conditions of the North Sea is unprecedented and the project has delivered a number of world-firsts that will significantly accelerate the speed at which future offshore projects can be developed. These include deployment of new 13MW and 14MW turbine technology, the world’s first unmanned offshore High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) substation platform, and first use of HVDC technology on a UK wind farm.
Dogger Bank in numbers
- At 260m, the turbine is almost twice the height of the London Eye and equivalent in height to the iconic Rockefeller Centre in New York.
- Each turn of its 107m long blades will produce enough clean energy to power an average UK home for 2 days.
- Once fully operational, Dogger Bank will generate annual CO2 savings equivalent to the emissions of nearly 1.5 million average internal combustion engine petrol cars.
- The installation vessel, Jan de Nul’s Voltaire, is the largest offshore jack-up installation vessel ever built and is the first ultra-low emission ship of its kind.
CEO of GE Vernova’s Offshore Wind business, Jan Kjaersgaard, said:
“We are delighted that the first campaign to install the Haliade-X turbine at sea at Dogger Bank Wind Farm is underway. We want to thank the partners in the Dogger Bank Wind Farm for the trust they have placed in GE and congratulate everyone involved. Together our teams are making a real contribution to the UK’s ambitious offshore wind goals by helping to bring clean, renewable energy online.”
Jan Van Impe, Manager of Manager Jan De Nul Offshore Renewables added:
“Our Voltaire is more than a match for the scale and characteristics of the offshore Dogger Bank turbines which offer the perfect challenge for this next generation state-of-the art jack-up installation vessel.
“We are excited to be embarking on this campaign to install the very first offshore GE Haliade-X turbine on the Dogger Bank Wind Farm in a sustainable and efficient way, and we are looking forward to continue this mission with industry leaders SSE Renewables, Equinor and Vårgrønn to further construct the energy transition for the UK energy market.”
2nd December 2021 in Construction, Press releases, Project news, Uncategorised
Joint venture partners SSE Renewables and Equinor have reached financial close on Dogger Bank Wind Farm C, the third phase of what will be the world’s largest offshore wind farm when complete in March 2026.
SSE Renewables and Equinor are already constructing the first two phases of the 3.6GW Dogger Bank Wind Farm with Eni, joint venture partner on phases A and B of the world-leading offshore wind project to be installed off the north east coast of England. Now, with financial close being reached on the project’s third phase, Dogger Bank Wind Farm has passed the last important milestone ahead of its construction delivery programme.
Total investment in Dogger Bank Wind Farm will be around £9 billion, of which around £3 billion is for phase C including offshore transmission capex in the range of £900-1000m.
Dogger Bank C has a capacity of 1,200MW and will generate around 6TWh. In total, Dogger Bank will produce enough clean, renewable electricity to supply 5% of the UK’s demand, equivalent to powering six million UK homes.
Dogger Bank A and B is a joint venture between SSE Renewables (40%), Equinor (40%) and Eni (20%). On 2 November 2021 SSE and Equinor announced the sell down of a combined 20% share in Dogger Bank C to Eni (10% each) for a total consideration of £140m. The transaction is expected to close in Q1 2022, subject to regulatory and lenders approvals and customary purchase price adjustments. Eni will enter the asset effective from completion of the sell down transaction. Once the transaction is complete, the new overall shareholding in Dogger Bank C will be SSE Renewables (40%), Equinor (40%) and Eni (20%). Extended partner alignment will enable further synergies across, both in the construction and operations phase of the Dogger Bank wind farm.
Dogger Bank Wind Farm is pioneering new technology and breaking world records in its delivery including green financing records. Financial close on Dogger Bank C has been reached through the financing support of a group of lenders comprising 28 banks and three export credit agencies (ECAs). Taken in aggregate with the financing last year of the A and B phases of the Dogger Bank project, reaching Financial Close on all three phases of Dogger Bank Wind Farm is the largest offshore wind project financing to date globally.
Alistair Phillips-Davies, SSE Chief Executive, said: “It is a fantastic achievement to be reaching financial close on the third phase of the world’s largest offshore wind project, just weeks after COP26 concluded in Glasgow and today marks an important early milestone in the delivery of our own Net Zero Acceleration Programme. Our plans will enable delivery of over 25% of UK’s 2030 40GW offshore wind target, whilst also expanding overseas, delivering over 20% of upcoming UK electricity networks investment and deploying the critical flexibility technologies to provide security of supply.
“Construction is well underway on the first two phases of Dogger Bank with work on the third phase already progressing and we look forward to this ramping up in the New Year. As well as providing clean, green power, Dogger Bank is enabling the planned GE blade manufacturing plant in Teesside and a huge number of direct and indirect jobs.”
Pål Eitrheim, Equinor EVP of New Energy Solutions, said: “Reaching financial close on the third phase of Dogger Bank is a significant milestone as it demonstrates that we are on track with developing what will become the world’s largest offshore wind farm. The extensive interest from lenders underpins the attractiveness of UK offshore wind assets and the confidence in SSE and Equinor as developers. The level of interest achieved reflects the quality of the project and enables strong return on equity. As the wind farm’s future operator, we will leverage our offshore execution capability and continue to deliver value for years to come.”
Dogger Bank C is being project financed with gearing of c.70% for the generation assets. Gearing on the transmission facilities is set at 90% of the forecast OFTO sale proceeds, in line with standard market practice in the sector. Total senior debt facilities is around £2.5 billion plus ancillary facilities of around £435 million.
With the strong interest from lenders, Dogger Bank C was able to secure competitive terms, despite continued impact from the coronavirus pandemic on the macroeconomic environment. The final group of lenders includes experienced lenders, many of which are relationship lenders of both SSE and Equinor. The majority of lenders are the same as for the financing of Dogger Bank A and B, reached in November 2020. A list of Dogger Bank C lenders, ECA and Advisors is available to download here.
SSE Renewables is leading on the development and construction of Dogger Bank Wind Farm, and Equinor will operate the wind farm on completion for its expected operational life of around 35 years.
About Dogger Bank Wind Farm
Dogger Bank Wind Farm was awarded exclusive development rights in 2010 by The Crown Estate as part of its third seabed licensing round. The project secured planning consent in 2015. In September 2019, Dogger Bank Wind Farm secured the following 15-year contracts with the Low Carbon Contracts Company (LCCC) through the UK Government’s Contract for Difference (CfD) auction:
- Dogger Bank A (1,200MW) with a strike price of £39.65/MWh (in 2012 prices, CPI-indexed) for delivery in 2023/24.
- Dogger Bank B and C (1,200MW each) with strike prices of £41.61/MWh (in 2012 prices, CPI-indexed) for delivery in 2024/25.
Onshore cable installation civils works for Dogger Bank C will start in Q1 2022; construction of the onshore convertor station will commence in Q2 2022. Offshore export cable installation will commence in Q1 2024; Offshore platform installation will commence in Q2, 2024; foundation installation will commence in Q3, 2024; Turbine installation will commence in Q2, 2025. First power is anticipated in Q3, 2025 and full power in Q1, 2026.
Onshore construction is currently underway for Dogger Bank A and Dogger Bank B, with offshore construction on Dogger Bank A due to begin in Q2 2022. First power is expected in Summer 2023 and Summer 2024 for Dogger Bank A and B, respectively, with commercial operations to follow around six months later.
