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Dogger Bank wins major safety award at inaugural RenewableUK Global Offshore Wind Awards

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

Vårgrønn acquires Plenitude’s 20% interest in the world’s largest offshore wind farm

17th October 2022 in Project news

Vårgrønn, a joint venture between Plenitude and HitecVision, has acquired Plenitude’s 20% stake in Dogger Bank Wind Farm.

Olav Hetland, CEO of Vårgrønn, said:

“We are pleased to complete the transaction and appreciate the trust from our shareholders to focus their offshore wind efforts in Northern Europe through the expansion of Vårgrønn. We look forward to a strong cooperation with our experienced partners SSE Renewables and Equinor to construct and operate the world’s largest offshore wind farm. Vårgrønn will actively contribute to the project’s success while Dogger Bank learnings will enrich the skills and experience of the Vårgrønn’s team and make us an even stronger partner in the race for licenses in all our key markets.”

Dogger Bank Wind Farm is being built in the North Sea more than 130km from the Yorkshire coast in three 1.2GW phases known as Dogger Bank A, B and C.

The world-class renewable energy project, which will be capable of powering 6 million UK homes annually on completion, is a joint venture between SSE Renewables (40%), Equinor (40%) and Vårgrønn (20%).

 

New Project Director for world’s largest offshore wind farm

10th October 2022 in Press releases, Project news

Olly Cass has been appointed by SSE Renewables as the new Project Director of Dogger Bank Wind Farm.

The appointment comes following the promotion of the former Project Director, Steve Wilson, to the role of Director of Offshore Capital Projects for SSE Renewables.

Olly Cass said:

“Having been the Finance Director for the past 3 years I’m really looking forward to this new chapter on the project and to continuing to work with such a talented team.

“It’s an incredibly exciting time on the project, with manufacturing ongoing at multiple facilities around the world, the early stages of offshore installation works underway and first power on Dogger Bank A scheduled for July 2023.

“The world’s largest offshore wind farm is a standout project which gives the whole team the ability to make a real difference on some of the biggest issues of the day. Once all three phases are fully operational Dogger Bank Wind Farm will deliver clean renewable power for 6 million UK homes, or about 5% of the UK’s electricity demand.”

Steve Wilson said:

“I am delighted to have been able to appoint Olly as the new Project Director and given his extensive knowledge and experience of Dogger Bank Wind Farm I have no doubt that he has the capabilities needed to lead the construction phase of this industry-leading project.

“I can say from my experience in the role that it is an honour to be involved in both Dogger Bank and in establishing an affordable, resilient and secure source of electricity for UK homes and businesses.”

Dogger Bank Wind Farm is being built in the North Sea more than 130km from the Yorkshire coast in three phases known as Dogger Bank A, B and C. Dogger Bank A and B phases will connect to the national grid near Beverley in East Riding of Yorkshire, while Dogger Bank C will connect to the grid near Redcar, in Teesside.   

The world-class renewable energy project, which will be capable of powering 6 million UK homes annually on completion, is a joint venture between SSE Renewables (40%), Equinor (40%) and Eni Plenitude (20%).  

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Hughes Subsea to provide anode installation on Dogger Bank A

29th September 2022 in Construction, Project news, Supply Chain

Hughes Subsea Services Ltd has signed a contract with Dogger Bank Wind farm to provide vessel, crew and equipment to complete the 2023 internal anode installation campaign across the first phase of the wind farm.

The contract will support up to 60 jobs in the UK supply chain.

Hughes will install the internal cathodic protection systems across the complete 95 wind turbines being installed at Dogger Bank A, using a walk-to-work offshore support vessel.

The system is designed to protect the turbines from corrosion during the wind farm’s 35-year operational lifetime and is being manufactured by South Tyneside specialist, Metec UK.

The work scope is scheduled to commence in Q2 of 2023 and has an expected duration of 2 months.

Ian Hughes, Managing Director at Hughes, said:

“We’re delighted to have been chosen by Dogger Bank Wind Farm for the Anode Installation contract award, we look forward to working with the developers on delivering and building on a successful project.”

 Dogger Bank Wind Farm Senior Project Manager, Alan Borland, said:

“Hughes will play an important role in protecting our assets from seawater corrosion during the operational lifetime of the world’s largest offshore wind farm by installing our internal foundation anodes”

 “The contract will also support an additional 60 roles in the UK supply chain when this work is underway from Spring 2023.”

Picture caption: Hughes Subsea Services Ltd has signed a contract with Dogger Bank Wind farm to provide vessel, crew and equipment to complete the 2023 internal anode installation campaign across the first phase of the wind farm.

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UK supplier starts work on third convertor station for world’s largest offshore find farm

26th September 2022 in Press releases, Project news, Supply Chain

  • Convertor station works begin for third phase of world’s largest offshore wind farm
  • Work carried out by Hitachi Energy and supported by sub-contractor Keltbray
  • Keltbray awarded civil engineering contracts for all 3 phases of Dogger Bank Wind Farm
  • Official ground-breaking event held at Hitachi site in Redcar
  • Up to 170 UK-based roles supporting construction of the wind farm’s three convertor stations at peak of work

Work has started on the convertor station for the third phase of the world’s largest offshore wind farm

Tier one contractor Hitachi Energy and civil engineering sub-contractor Keltbray will construct the convertor station on the Sembcorp complex near Lazenby in Teesside.

Dogger Bank Wind Farm Senior Project Manager Alan Borland, said:

“Starting work on the third convertor station for the world’s largest offshore wind farm is another exciting milestone for the whole team.

“It’s great to see our tier one supplier awarding another civil contract to Keltbray, a company which has played a key role in the development of the first two phases of the project.

“Dogger Bank Wind Farm will provide an affordable and secure source of renewable energy for 6 million UK homes from 2026.

Dogger Bank Wind Farm is being built in the North Sea more than 130km from the Yorkshire coast in three phases known as Dogger Bank A, B and C. Dogger Bank A and B phases will connect to the national grid near Beverley in East Riding of Yorkshire, while Dogger Bank C will connect to the grid near Redcar, in Teesside.

The world-class renewable energy project, which will be capable of powering 6 million UK homes annually on completion, is a joint venture between SSE Renewables (40%), Equinor (40%) and Eni Plenitude (20%).

It will be the first HVDC connected wind farm in the UK, paving the way for other UK wind farms and suppliers to build on our experience transmitting renewable energy safely and efficiently across long distances while minimising potential losses.

Hitachi Energy is supplying the HVDC systems to connect the wind farm to the national grid at Creyke Beck in East Riding and Lackenby near Redcar. Each phase of the project will have both an offshore and onshore convertor station to facilitate efficient transmission of renewable energy via HVDC subsea and onshore underground HVDC and HVAC cables. The two convertor stations in East Riding of Yorkshire are currently under construction at the A1079 site between Beverley and Cottingham.

In Summer 2021 Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen and Redcar MP Jacob Young signalled the start of site preparation work for the Dogger Bank C convertor station by specialists Jones Bros Civil –Engineering UK. Last week representatives from Dogger Bank, Hitachi Energy and Keltbray Group gathered to mark the start of work on the third onshore convertor station on the pre-prepared site, which is due to be completed by Q1 2025.

Keltbray is one of several UK-based firms to secure contracts on the world’s largest offshore wind farm, with more than 1,500 UK roles already created or supported in relation to the construction and operation of Dogger Bank Wind Farm. Durham-based and family-owned steel construction firm Finleys is one of the businesses that has helped with the construction of the first two convertor stations near Beverley in East Riding of Yorkshire. Up to 170 UK based roles will be supported on the two convertor station construction sites during peak times for the project.

Goran Isacsson, Project Director for Hitachi Energy, said:

“The start of construction work at the Dogger Bank C converter station here in Redcar is a great moment for the Hitachi Energy team. We are proud to be delivering three HVDC® Light converter stations for the world’s largest offshore wind farm, Dogger Banker Wind Farm. HVDC technology significantly contributes towards a carbon-neutral energy future by enabling the integration of large-scale and remote renewable energy generation.”

Keltbray Highways Managing Director, Vip Gandhi said:

“The ground-breaking ceremony marks an exciting milestone in continuing our involvement with the prestigious Dogger Bank Wind Farm. Phase C gives us the opportunity to continue providing opportunities to local people and supply chain, collectively working towards a renewable future.”

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Picture caption: Keltbray Highways Managing Director – Vip Gandhi, Dogger Bank C Project Manager – James O’Hara, Dogger Bank Wind Farm Commercial Director – Simon Bailey, Dogger Bank Wind Farm Senior Project Manager – Alan Borland and Hitachi Project Director – Goran Isacsson.