9th December 2021 in Operations, Press releases, Project news, Supply Chain
North Star Group has been awarded a service operations vessel (SOV) contract to support the third phase of Dogger Bank Wind Farm, with the creation of 40 more UK-based jobs.
The UK firm will deliver an additional ship boasting its new hybrid-powered renewables fleet design to support offshore wind technicians working in the field.
This will be the fourth SOV and associated daughter craft the business has been contracted to build and operate by the project, making North Star the exclusive service vessel operator for the world’s largest wind farm for at least the next decade.
In March, the firm won the initial contract for Dogger Bank A and Dogger Bank B following a competitive tender for the design and delivery of three SOVs.
Each of the four Dogger Bank SOVs have been contracted on a 10-year agreement, with three additional one-year options.
Around 40 new full-time positions in crewing and onshore-based job will be created locally, in addition to the 130 announced previously to support the first three SOVs. Recruitment is already underway, underpinning the company’s commitment to supporting communities in the UK.
The company, which employs around 1,400 personnel out of its facilities in Aberdeen, Newcastle and its Boston Putford division in Lowestoft, has unrivalled marine expertise in the North Sea. The business, which has been operating for 135 years, has the largest wholly owned UK fleet and currently supports more than 50 installations with its existing purpose-built tonnage.
North Star’s new SOVs are high performance, sustainable vessels capable of supporting net-zero goals and utilising fuels of the future. They provide comfortable, floating-hotel style accommodation to offshore wind turbine technicians and a centralised logistics hub to travel to and from work each day across a “walk-to-work” gangway, or transfer via a smaller daughter craft vessel. The SOVs are also configured to handle cargo and act as a warehouse.
North Star CEO, Matthew Gordon said:
“Securing the final SOV contract required for the Dogger Bank Wind Farm development for the next decade is an honour, and testament to the hard work and dedication of the team at North Star and our talented technology partners. We are fully committed to supporting the local supply chain and communities in the UK where possible and are actively recruiting around 170 personnel from across the country to support this complete vessel package.
“We’d like to take this opportunity to thank Equinor, SSE Renewables and Eni for their enthusiasm and confidence in our SOV service, which significantly shifts the dial on sustainability, comfort, safety and workability These hybrid-powered vessels are futureproofed for tomorrow’s zero-carbon emission marine fuels and the superior home-from-home living space will provide the offshore wind technicians exceptional respite from the often-harsh North Sea environment.
“The Dogger Bank C award has put us in an even stronger market position to deliver further value to our shareholders as we continue with our strategic ambitions to secure additional projects in the UK offshore renewables market and beyond.”
Due to its size and scale, 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.
Rune Rønvik, Project Manager for Dogger Bank, said:
“With the final SOV also being delivered by North Star we will have the same ship owner across all three phases which means we will continue the constructive cooperation we have started and develop the operational synergies further.
“As we have seen from North Star’s initial contract award, securing big orders can really help UK businesses enter the offshore wind market, secure investment and create jobs, and we at Dogger Bank are proud to have played a role in enabling this UK company take advantage of the global opportunity presented by offshore wind.”
ENDS
3rd December 2021 in Construction, Press releases, Project news, Supply Chain
Three quarters of the ducts and a third of the on-shore high voltage cables that will connect the first phases of the world’s largest offshore wind farm to the UK’s National Grid have now been installed.
Jones Bros Civil Engineering UK is delivering the land-based infrastructure for the first two phases of Dogger Bank Wind Farm, which will connect to the National Grid near Beverley, East Riding. There are also a number of UK-based specialists supporting the Jones Bros team with the cable installation work.
The North Wales-headquartered company is responsible for installing 80 miles of underground cabling in underground ducts on land in East Riding of Yorkshire from the landfall site at Ulrome, to the onshore convertor station near Beverley.
With wetter weather now closing in, much of the site is entering a winter shutdown in order to preserve the quality of the soil. However, some drilling work will continue into the new year under the A1079 north of Woodmansey, and at the Creyke Beck Substation, with the tier one contractor planning to complete this by Spring 2022.
Onshore works manager for Dogger Bank Wind Farm, Oliver Flattery, said:
“Great progress has been made over the last few years to prepare the land-based infrastructure for the first two phases of the world’s largest offshore wind farm.
“We remain committed to operating safely, sustainably and respectfully as we continue our drilling work in East Riding of Yorkshire, and as duct and cable installation work picks up again in the Spring.”
James Lockwood, project manager for Jones Bros, said:
“We have made excellent progress while the weather has been with us, and as such have installed a significant amount of cable.
“The cable itself runs across two routes: a DC route which goes from the connection point with offshore cables to the converter station, and a shorter AC route, which then runs from the converter station to National Grid infrastructure.
“Additionally, we have been able to start some works restoring parts of the site, a process which includes sowing a mix of specially selected cover crops that will help maintain the nutrient levels in the soil in preparation of the final reinstatements work due to carried out next year.
“Once better weather returns in the spring, we’ll be back underway with high voltage duct and cable installation, working towards a final site handover in June 2023.”
The team has also constructed 28 of the project’s 74 joint bays, which will form part of the infrastructure for the connection between offshore power cables and the mains grid.
Dogger Bank Wind Farm, which is being built more than 130km off the Yorkshire coast in the North Sea, is currently being developed in three 1.2GW phases: Dogger Bank A, B and C.
Dogger Bank A and B is a joint venture between SSE Renewables (40%), Equinor (40%) and Eni (20%). In November 2021 SSE Renewables and Equinor, 50:50 joint venture partners in Dogger Bank C, announced Eni will take a 20% stake in the final phase, with SSE Renewables and Equinor maintaining 40% stakes each. The deal is expected to complete in Q1 2022, subject to regulatory approvals.
ENDS
22nd November 2021 in Operations, Press releases, Project news, Supply Chain
Dogger Bank Wind Farm has officially broken ground for its net zero carbon Operations and Maintenance (O&M) Base at the Port of Tyne.
At 3.6GW, the wind farm will become the biggest in the world when fully operational in 2026, and be capable of providing around 5% of the UK’s electricity.
The Government has committed to decarbonize the UK’s electricity system by 2035, and anticipates that by 2030 offshore wind could generate enough electricity to power every UK home.
SSE Renewables is leading on the construction of the wind farm, and Equinor will operate the wind farm from the new base, for its operational life expected to be 35 years.
Mark Halliday, Operations Director for Dogger Bank, said:
“Dogger Bank Wind Farm will be a large contributor to the UK’s net zero ambitions, at the same time creating jobs and bringing investments to the local economy.
“This ground-breaking is a proud moment for the project and marks the start of more than 35 years’ presence by the Dogger Bank operations team here at Port of Tyne. As well as building a state-of-the-art facility, we are looking forward to building up a fantastic team based here and working with others in the region to develop a world-leading offshore wind cluster.”
Matt Beeton, CEO Port of Tyne said:
“It is a huge win for the region that the Operations and Maintenance base for the world’s biggest offshore wind farm will be right here at the Port of Tyne. Being home to Dogger Bank firmly places the north-east at the centre of the offshore energy transition, and we are already seeing ripple effects within the local offshore wind supply chain. As our first resident of the Tyne Clean Energy Park, we are confident this base will attract other significant manufacturing and operational businesses to the Tyne.”
Dogger Bank Wind Farm will be located more than 130km offshore, and the Operations and Maintenance Base will be the onshore hub for the wind farm.
Over 200 people will be based there or offshore to operate and maintain the 277 turbines and associated infrastructure needed to generate power for millions of homes. Recruitment will ramp up in 2022, as the project looks to fill roles including wind farm technician, project planners, engineers and management.
As well as offices for those based onshore and a warehouse to store spare parts for the wind farm, the design includes development of a new quay suitable for the state-of-the-art Service Operations Vessels (SOVs) that provide accommodation, and transport for technicians to and from the wind farm. The vessels will come to the port approximately twice a month for resupply and crew change.
The 3400m2 base is expected to complete in Q4 2022, ahead of wind farm operations starting in 2023. The construction of the O&M base is being managed by Equinor, which has contracted global real estate advisor CBRE as the Principal Designer, and Bowmer + Kirkland (B+K) as the Principal Contractor for the facility.
The O&M base will be constructed and operated in line with the UK Green Building Council’s (UKGBC) Net Zero Carbon Buildings Framework to ensure transparent and robust reporting of its sustainability credentials. It will use low carbon materials and will meet the highest energy efficiency classifications. Solar PV panels will be installed for onsite renewable generation, and EV charging points will be available so staff and visitors can travel there in low emissions vehicles, further reducing the wider impact.
Construction of other parts of the wind farm has already begun, with onshore cabling works progressing well despite the global pandemic.
Dogger Bank Project Director, Steve Wilson, said:
“Today we’re celebrating the start of work to build this innovative zero carbon base, but it’s also a great chance to take stock and celebrate what’s already been achieved since the overall construction of the wind farm commenced in early 2020.
“With around a third of the onshore high voltage cables now in place for the first two phases of the wind farm and the first onshore convertor station starting to take shape, we’re looking forward to getting started on the offshore installation work during 2022 that will be critical to this world-leading renewable energy asset becoming fully operational from 2026.”
The project is being built in three phases; Dogger Bank A, B and C. Dogger Bank A and B are a joint venture between Equinor (40%), SSE Renewables (40%), and Eni (20%). In November 2021 Equinor and SSE Renewables, 50:50 joint venture partners in Dogger Bank C, announced Eni will take a 20% stake in the final phase, with SSE Renewables and Equinor maintaining 40% stakes each. The deal is expected to complete in Q1 2022 subject to Dogger Bank C Financial Close and regulatory approvals.
16th November 2021 in Construction, Press releases, Project news, Supply Chain
The world’s largest offshore wind farm is once again benefiting from supply chain expertise in the north-east of England as it continues site preparation work for the installation of turbines in the North Sea.
Working in collaboration with Global Maritime, Newcastle-based Ryder Geotechnical, a Tekmar Group company, delivered a site-specific assessment in preparation for the installation of 190 turbines for the first two phases of Dogger Bank Wind Farm.
The wind farm is being built in three phases; Dogger Bank A, B and C, and when complete will be able to generate around 5% of the UK’s electricity. The project will use the world’s first Ultra-Low emissions jack-up vessel to install turbines 130km out to sea, off the North East coast of England.
Turbines are installed by a jack-up vessel, a ship that extends legs down to the seabed and lifts itself up to provide a stable platform to perform installation from. Ryder’s role in this project was to assess the geological conditions above and below the seabed surface at both sites and provide geotechnical information ahead of the jack-up operations. The geotechnical information is used to advise on the seabed load bearing and other parameters needed for installation.
Steven Metcalfe, lead engineer on the project from Ryder said “We’re delighted to have this opportunity to work on the world’s largest offshore wind farm. The site was particularly complex geologically due to soft clay layers sandwiched between firmer sand layers, but working closely with Global Maritime we were able to fully assess these holistically, and develop solutions for the safest operations.”
Dogger Bank A and B is a joint venture between SSE Renewables (40%), Equinor (40%) and Eni (20%). In November 2021 SSE Renewables and Equinor, 50:50 joint venture partners in Dogger Bank C, announced Eni will take a 20% stake in the final phase, with SSE Renewables and Equinor maintaining 40% stakes each, in a deal that is expected to complete in Q1 2022 (subject to Dogger Bank C Financial Close and regulatory approvals).
SSE Renewables is leading on the construction of the wind farm and Equinor will operate the wind farm for its expected lifetime of 35 years.
Halfdan Brustad, Vice President for Dogger Bank at Equinor said: “This site-specific assessment carried out by Ryder Geotechnical is essential for us to confirm the turbine fixing requirements ahead of construction and to understand any geotechnical risk to jack-up operations, ensuring safe installation offshore. It’s another great example of UK expertise helping us to deliver the wind farm safely and efficiently as we prepare for offshore installation to commence in 2022.”
12th November 2021 in Press releases, Project news, Supply Chain
Dogger Bank Wind Farm has signed a contract with Sif-Smulders consortium for all 87 monopiles and transition pieces for the third phase of the world’s largest offshore wind farm.
Sif and Smulders were awarded contracts to provide the wind turbine foundations for the first two phases of Dogger Bank in November 2020, and have since awarded subcontracts to South Tyneside-based Metec and Rochdale-based Granada to work on this world-leading project.
The foundation fabrication and supply contract for Dogger Bank C is subject to financial close on Dogger Bank C which is expected in late 2021.
In the project-specific Sif-Smulders consortium, Sif is responsible for fabrication and supply of monopiles and primary steel for the transition pieces, and for the marshalling of all foundation components at its Maasvlakte 2 Rotterdam terminal. Smulders will manufacture secondary steel and assemble, coat and test fully equipped transition pieces.
Dogger Bank Wind Farm Project Director, Steve Wilson, said:
“We’re delighted to expand our ongoing work with Sif and Smulders on the first two phases of the windfarm with this contract for DBC. The consortium will supply monopiles and transition pieces that are among the largest to be installed on any offshore wind farm and which continue to push the boundaries of foundation design.”
Fred van Beers, CEO of Sif Holding said:
“We are honoured by the confidence in our company that the developers of Dogger Bank Wind Farm express in their award of part C of the Dogger Bank Wind Farm to Sif, extending our order book to well into 2024 and allowing us time to prepare for expected demand for larger foundations for the period 2025 and beyond. We are a proud partner to Equinor/SSE/ENI for the landmark Dogger Bank Wind Farm project”.
Raf Lemants, Managing Director of Smulders:
“Smulders looks forward to continuing our partnership with SSE/Equinor for Dogger Bank C together with Sif. We are proud that we can share our knowledge and expertise and deliver the transition pieces for all three phases of the world’s largest offshore wind farm.”
Dogger Bank Wind Farm is being developed in three phases – Dogger Bank A, Dogger Bank B and Dogger Bank C – located more than 130km from the Yorkshire coast and the world’s largest offshore wind farm when complete.
Dogger Bank A and B is a joint venture between SSE Renewables (40%), Equinor (40%) and Eni (20%). In November 2021 SSE Renewables and Equinor, 50:50 joint venture partners in Dogger Bank C, announced Eni will take a 20% stake in the final phase, with SSE Renewables and Equinor maintaining 40% stakes each. The deal is expected to complete in Q1 2022, subject to Dogger Bank C Financial Close and regulatory approvals.
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