29th November 2022 in Events, Operations, Press releases, Supply Chain
Dogger Bank Wind Farm today welcomes 80 supply chain representatives to an innovation workshop, focusing on robotics in offshore wind operations and maintenance.
The event, held at the National Innovation Centre for Data in Newcastle, is being delivered by business development organisation NOF, which specialises in the UK energy sector. Bringing together representatives from the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult, North East England’s offshore wind cluster Energi Coast, the Offshore Wind Growth Partnership and the Dogger Bank operations team, the event aims to identify new technologies and suppliers that can help improve operational efficiencies on this flagship project and across the industry.
Dogger Bank Wind Farm has taken an innovative approach to operations and maintenance of an offshore wind farm, using the latest technology available to ensure safety and reliability in operating the wind farm, which will begin generating power in 2023. Digitalisation and the usage of emerging technology, such as high-voltage direct current (HVDC) cables and an unmanned offshore substation, an industry-first, are core tenets of the development of Dogger Bank Wind Farm.
Mark Halliday, Operations Director for Dogger Bank said: “We are delighted to be hosting so many local suppliers today in North East England. We are committed to providing opportunities to businesses throughout the operational phase of the wind farm and we see robotics as an area that can support development of a competitive UK supply chain. There is also a great opportunity to transfer technologies from other industries and the event is designed to help suppliers enter offshore wind from adjacent sectors such as oil & gas and automotive, which are already strengths of the region.”
In addition to offshore wind sector partners, the event will also include representatives from Dogger Bank Tier 1 suppliers for the operations phase including North Star Renewables and GE. The operations team will have a focus on inspection, maintenance and repair using robotics both above and below the seabed as well as to improve safety and operational efficiencies. There will also be a focus on key components including turbine blade inspection.
Tony Quinn, Energi Coast chair said: “Events like this one really bring home the value of having Equinor and their JV partners embedded in our region as well as one of the world’s largest windfarms on our virtual doorstep. For technology developers to have such ready access to ‘end users’ significantly reduces their time and cost of bringing new and innovative products to market.
Technology which helps to further our understanding of offshore wind, through remote inspection, condition monitoring or indeed maintenance will ultimately drive improved reliability and improved safety by removing the need for manual intervention.”
Dogger Bank Wind Farm is located more than 130km off the north-east coast of England and is being delivered by joint venture partners SSE Renewables, Equinor and Vårgrønn. SSE Renewables is leading on construction and delivery while Equinor will operate the wind farm on completion. Dogger Bank is being built in three consecutive 1.2GW phases; Dogger Bank A, Dogger Bank B and Dogger Bank C. In total the wind farm is expected to generate enough renewable electricity to supply 5% of the UK’s demand, equivalent to powering six million homes.
22nd November 2022 in Community News, Operations, Press releases, Supply Chain
Dogger Bank Wind Farm today welcomed 80 local supply chain representatives to the Port of Tyne, the home of the Operations and Maintenance (O&M) base for what will be the world’s largest offshore wind farm upon completion.
Delivered by business development organisation, NOF, which specialises in the UK energy sector, the event aims to showcase the Port of Tyne as a green energy destination and centre for innovation across many industries from logistics and automotive to leisure and renewables, located at the heart of North East England.
Tom Nightingale, North East Stakeholder Manager for Dogger Bank said: “We are delighted to be hosting so many local suppliers today with our partners Port of Tyne. We are committed to providing local opportunities to businesses throughout the operational phase of the wind farm for its expected lifetime of 35 years. Over 50% of the O&M base build spend was with local companies and we hope to maintain this philosophy into our operations, providing long-term opportunities to the energy supply chain and the local business community.”
The Dogger Bank Wind Farm operations team will also provide a project update and highlight future opportunities for the supply chain, before providing a tour of the new state-of-the-art O&M base, which has been constructed and will be operated in line with the UK Green Building Council’s (UKGBC) Net Zero Carbon Buildings Framework.
Matt Beeton, CEO of Port of Tyne said: “Today’s event is a great opportunity to mobilise the region’s skills and supply chain for the fantastic green opportunities on the horizon. The clean energy cluster we’re creating at the Port of Tyne together with the Dogger Bank JV partners will help repurpose today’s skills to take advantage of tomorrow’s opportunities. Through sustained investment in upgraded infrastructure, we’re determined to ensure that our green energy port provides the perfect development platform as the UK accelerates its path to a cleaner and greener future.”
The Dogger Bank Wind Farm project team has previously worked with NOF to deliver a series of ‘Meet the Buyer’ events to help prepare the supply chain for opportunities to get involved, by connecting Tier 1 suppliers with the local and UK supply chains. The project is proud to be working with a number of local suppliers following these activities, including South Tyneside based Metec UK. Key equipment for Dogger Bank has also been tested at the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult Test Centre in Blyth, including blades and nacelles for GE’s Haliade-X Turbine.
Joanne Leng MBE, Chief Executive of NOF, said: “NOF is proud to be supporting Dogger Bank Wind Farm with these O&M tours. Not only does it present an opportunity to showcase the base at the Port of Tyne but allows supply chain businesses and key stakeholders to see first hand what an amazing facility this is and how it will be a long term opportunity for the local business community.”
Dogger Bank Wind Farm is located more than 130km off the north-east coast of England and is being delivered by joint venture partners SSE Renewables, Equinor and Vårgrønn. SSE Renewables is leading on construction and delivery while Equinor will operate the wind farm on completion. Dogger Bank is being built in three consecutive 1.2GW phases; Dogger Bank A, Dogger Bank B and Dogger Bank C. In total the wind farm is expected to generate enough renewable electricity to supply 5% of the UK’s demand, equivalent to powering six million homes.
More about Dogger Bank:
The Dogger Bank O&M Base was constructed at the Port of Tyne, with construction completed in Q4 2022. The project is the UK’s first HVDC connected wind farm and will feature the world’s first unmanned HVDC offshore platforms. North Star Renewables has been contracted to provide four Service Operation Vessels (SOVs) to the project.
One rotation of GE’s Haliade-X turbine can power a UK household for two days. 277 units of the 13MW and 14MW turbines will be used on Dogger Bank.
Dogger Bank Wind Farm is a joint venture between SSE Renewables (40%), Equinor (40%) and Vårgrønn (20%).
If you would like to register your interest as a potential supplier to Dogger Bank Wind Farm, please go to https://doggerbank.com/supply-chain/supplier-registration/
21st November 2022 in Construction, Press releases, Project news, Supply Chain
- Cranes will support staging of 277 sets of blades, nacelles, and towers at Able Seaton Port
- Contract will create approximately 30 roles at Thornaby-based lifting specialist
- 30 new jobs are part of approximately 470 previously announced in relation to GE contracts in north-east of England
GE Renewable Energy has selected Mammoet UK, based in Thornaby Teesside, to supply onshore heavy lifting and transport for the staging and installation of turbines for Dogger Bank Wind Farm.
The contract will account for about 30 of the previously-announced approximately 470 roles to be created across the north-east of England by GE in relation to the construction and operation of the wind farm.
Mammoet will employ multiple lifting and transport crews for simultaneous operations to support with the loading of equipment and tower assembly in the marshalling harbour, a key piece in constructing the project. The team will utilise cranes and self-propelled modular transporter (SPMT) axles at Able Seaton Port, the Dogger Bank Wind Farm marshalling harbour.
GE will start preparing the marshalling harbour and receiving components at the end of 2022.
Mammoet UK Managing Director, Mark Sadler, said:
“This contract represents not just a win for Mammoet and renewable energy investment but for the people of Teesside.
“Securing the project means even greater potential investment and business growth that will expand our existing pool of highly skilled labour with renewables expertise in the region. We have a great opportunity to support GE Renewables and other businesses building the UK’s fast-growing offshore wind energy market.”
Simon Bailey, Commercial Director for Dogger Bank Wind Farm, said:
“We’re delighted to see another company from the north-east of England winning valuable contracts in our supply chain and playing a significant role in the construction of the world’s largest offshore wind farm. We look forward to working with GE and Mammoet on achieving this exciting milestone at Able Seaton.”
GE Renewable Energy announced in May, 2021 that it had finalised all supply contracts for the 3.6 GW Dogger Bank Offshore Wind Farm, due to become the largest offshore wind farm in the world upon completion.
Nathan Fahey, GE Project Director for the Dogger Bank Wind Farm, said:
“We are delighted to announce that we have selected Mammoet UK as our cranes and logistics supplier for the Dogger Bank Wind farm. The cranes and associated equipment the company will provide and operate for us will be essential to the smooth operation of our marshalling harbour on Teesside, where 277 sets of blades, nacelles and towers of our Haliade-X Wind Turbines will be erected and transit over the course of the project. We believe Mammoet has the right expertise and equipment to be an excellent partner for us.”
Mammoet UK’s headquarters in Teesside sits on a six-acre site located just 12 miles from the project and employs approximately over 180 full-time employees. The facility consists of offices, storage, workshop space and testing areas. Mammoet has also established an academy on the site, where it plans to train additional crews as part of the resourcing plan. This local presence is critical to the success of the project.
Caption: Mammoet UK, based in Thornaby Teesside, will supply onshore heavy lifting and transport for the staging and installation of turbines for Dogger Bank Wind Farm.
27th October 2022 in Community News, Press releases, Project news
The Dogger Bank Wind Farm team walked away with a major award for health, safety and wellbeing following the first ever Global Offshore Wind Awards at a ceremony at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London this week, for its ‘Safety by Design’ initiative
Organised by RenewableUK, the awards highlight the achievements of innovative people working in the offshore wind industry, as the UK continues its journey to improve Britain’s energy security through an ambition of installing 50 GW of offshore wind by 2030.
Winning the first award of the evening for Offshore Wind Health & Safety and Wellbeing, the team from Dogger Bank Wind Farm, including SSE Renewables, Equinor and foundation designer Wood Thilsted, were commended by the judges for the way they included health and safety as an integral part of project planning and how their approach was the embodiment of best practice in the industry.
The ‘Safety by Design’ initiative used operational experiences, past incidents and industry statistics to improve health and safety through design on Dogger Bank.
Through several design changes of the wind turbines, foundations and service operation vessels (SOVs), this resulted in the following improvements over the project lifetime: 1 million offshore lifts removed, manual handling of 20,000 tons over 1000 kilometres and removal of exposure to a 3-meter fall for 650 days. In addition, the risk of collision between SOVs and the wind turbines has been significantly reduced.
Accepting the award on behalf of Dogger Bank Wind Farm, Project Director Olly Cass said:
“Health and Safety are always the top priorities at Dogger Bank – our motto is ‘if it is not safe, we don’t do it.’ It is fantastic for our H&S colleagues and the wider team to have the quality of their work recognised in this way by the judges and in front of industry peers.”
Andrew Saunders, Dogger Bank Prepare for Operations Manager at Equinor, said:
”It is a real honour to be recognised by the industry for this ‘Safe by Design’ initiative, the result of strong collaboration between project partners and contractors to make a real difference. Taking G+ incident statistics, operational experiences and lessons has led us to eliminate vast amounts of craning and manual handling activities, which will have an incredibly positive impact to the health, safety and wellbeing of our technicians and engineers on a daily basis.”
RenewableUK’s Chief Executive Dan McGrail said:
“The UK is a world leader in offshore wind and it’s right to celebrate what drives our industry forward – growth, innovation, the vibrancy and resilience of our supply chain, our incredible people and the quality of our provisions on health and safety.
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Picture caption: Global Offshore Wind Awards 2022 at Royal Lancaster Hotel
20th October 2022 in Community News, Press releases
Dogger Bank Wind Farm has doubled its operator fund grants for community groups in its key communities in recognition of increasing costs and financial pressures.
In light of the current crisis and new challenges that many communities are facing, the amount that groups in East Riding of Yorkshire, South Tyneside and Redcar and Cleveland can apply for has increased from £500 to £1000.
The Dogger Bank Operator Fund provides small grants to grass roots community projects to help enhance quality of life for local residents, contribute to vibrant, healthy, successful, and sustainable communities, and/or promote community spirit and encourage community activity. Since the fund started, 38 different projects have been supported and almost £55,000 has been awarded to help local people recover and rebuild from the pandemic and to enhance local community assets.
The funding decisions are made by a panel with representatives from wind farm joint venture partners Equinor and SSE Renewables, as well as independent participant Caroline Lofthouse from NOF. NOF is a not-for-profit business development organisation helping to make connections between national businesses and the energy sector.
Rachel Lawrence, Community Engagement Manager for Dogger Bank Wind Farm, said:
“We recognise community groups are playing an increasingly valuable role in supporting our key communities and yet they themselves are facing the financial pressures we all face currently. By doubling our operator fund grants at this time, we hope to alleviate some of the financial pressure that could prevent these critical organisations from being able to maintain and grow the services that are a lifeline for many.”
In South Tyneside, the fund enabled South Shields Cricket Club new girls cricket team to arrange a trip to London where they received a coaching session at Lords Cricket Ground. Local charity Wilby Roc has also been funded to deliver a community well-being day. The charity recognises that many local people have had a challenging year and will deliver a well-being day which will allow community members to try new activities and crafts and learn well-being techniques.
Danielle Pollard, Education Director at Wilby Rocs, said:
“The grant from the Dogger Bank Wind Farm will go towards essential well-being services. The people of South Tyneside have been through so much and we want to create a day where we can get people together and find out how to improve well-being, physical and mental health. I give a huge thanks to Dogger Bank Wind Farm from Wilby Roc’s and the people of South Tyneside.”
Also in the region, Bede’s Helping Hands has been supported to set up a job search club in their premises. The facility will enable local people to develop CVs, search for jobs and complete on-line training.
In East Riding of Yorkshire, Dogger Bank Wind Farm has further demonstrated its commitment to enhancing local community assets with an award to Hornsea Town Walking Football Club. The club will use the £500 award to purchase a portable and fully automated defibrillator.
Jon Fish, Lead Medical Officer at Hornsea Town Walking Club said:
“I am pleased that Hornsea Town WFC now has a ‘state of the art’ portable defibrillator which can travel with players to tournament and league matches.”
Men in Sheds Beverley, East Yorkshire has also been provided with support to enhance their facilities. This will enable more local older people to meet up, learn new skills and complete craftwork for the community. The Men in Sheds initiative is used by lots of local people, especially those who experience isolation or who are recovering from health complications including cancer and strokes.
In Redcar and Cleveland, the operator fund helped local community group Normanby Community Forum with the lack of electric lighting in their Wildlife Garden. Through a successful funding application to the Dogger Bank Operator Fund, the forum was able to source a local electrician to fit a light in the Wildlife Garden, which now provides ample light coverage for the whole area, ensuring residents and passers-by feel safe and comfortable to use the space for quiet contemplation in an otherwise busy area.
Leo Croft, Community Development Officer at Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council said:
“The Wildlife Garden is a small piece of green space on the corner of an extremely busy and urbanised area of Normanby, on the border to Middlesbrough. The opportunity for local residents – especially elderly – is limited in terms of enjoying green, quiet, and tranquil spaces, therefore the Wildlife Garden is vital in providing a need for the local community. Unfortunately, lack of lighting meant that the area became secluded and attractive for anti-social behaviour on evenings.
The Normanby Community Forum are extremely pleased with the light installation, and grateful to the Dogger Bank Operator Fund for helping local communities’ complete projects such as this.”
Dogger Bank Wind Farm will be located more than 130 km off the Yorkshire coast and will generate enough renewable energy to power six million UK homes. A joint venture between SSE Renewables, Equinor and Eni, SSE Renewables is leading on Dogger Bank construction and delivery while Equinor will operate the wind farm on completion.
In June 2021, Dogger Bank Wind Farm unveiled plans for a £1 million construction fund to support the coastal communities where its onshore infrastructure is being developed. The programme includes a significant investment in science, technology, engineering and maths provision, university scholarships as well as an operators fund to support local causes.
In addition to enhancing local communities, students across South Tyneside, Redcar and Cleveland and East Riding of Yorkshire can apply for a scholarship of £5000 to help with the cost of further education qualifications while studying STEM subjects.
The Dogger Bank Scholarship Programme will reopen to new applicants in Summer 2023. Further details and how to apply next year can be found at https://doggerbank.com/about/community/.
Community projects and local organisations can apply for grants up to the new amount of up to £1000, at https://doggerbank.com/about/community/.
The groups to receive awards in the latest round and how they used their grants:
East Riding:
- Two Riding Foundation – To support COVID-19 community responses.
- Beeford Bowling Club – To purchase a new storage shed.
- Long Riston Playing Fields – To re-develop a children’s playpark.
- Rickaby Village Hall Committee – To purchase new kitchen equipment.
- Men in Sheds Beverley – To improve the safety of a men’s shed.
- Beverley FM – To provide work experience placements.
- Cherry Tree Community Centre – To provide recipe bags to local residents.
- Kilham School PTFA – To build an outside STEM learning area.
- Nature Tots – To purchase equipment for an outdoor play group.
- The Wombles of Beverley – To purchase litter picking equipment.
- Woodmansey School PTFA – To purchase sports equipment.
- Beeford Playing Fields Association – To replace vandalised pavilion doors.
- Skipsea Village Hall – To improve a playing field.
- Beeford Lawn Tennis Club – To purchase new tennis balls and support the upkeep of 6 courts.
- Humberside Scouts – To develop the outside area at the activity centre.
- Hornsea Town Walking Football – To purchase a portable defibrillator.
- Woodmansey Parish Council – To run a community event to commemorate the Queen’s platinum jubilee.
- Woodmansey Parish Council – To fund a defibrillator.
- 1st Beverley St Nicholas Scout Group – To purchase new outdoor equipment.
- Skirlaugh Bulls Youth Rugby League Club – To purchase new football kits.
- Blackburn Leisure Bowls Club – To purchase new equipment for a youth bowls programme.
South Tyneside and Redcar and Cleveland
- County Durham Community Foundation – To support COVID-19 community responses.
- Radio Shields NE Ltd CIC – To support community broadcasting.
- Bede’s Helping Hands Food Bank – To set up a job search club.
- Kayaks – To support a special needs children’s club.
- Bliss Ability – To run a community support group for people with depression.
- Hedworthfield Community Association – To purchase outside seating.
- Williby Rocs CIC – To host a community wellbeing day.
- Action Station – To support volunteer costs.
- Auxelia Youth Services CIC – To run a youth volunteer project.
- Marske Sports and Recreation Partnership – To create a kitchenette.
- South Shields Cricket Club – To support the new girls cricket team to receive a coaching session at Lords Cricket Ground.
- South Tyneside Harton & Westoe Juniors Royals – To purchase new sports equipment.
- Markse Community Partnership – To provide a winter community event.
- Normanby Community Forum – To upkeep a community garden.
- South Shields Triathlon – To expand the provision of go-tri events.
- Tyneside Ignite CIC – To train cheerleading coaches.
- Open Doors – To run a weekly lunch club
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Picture caption: Hornsea Town Walking Football Club committee members.
