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.
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%).
11th October 2022 in Community News, Press releases
A mechanical engineering student from Middlesbrough College who received a Dogger Bank Wind Farm scholarship earlier this year has had a behind-the-scenes tour of the project’s onshore works near Redcar.
Anthony Bell, who is studying for a Higher National Diploma (HND), was given an exclusive insight into the onshore works for the world’s largest offshore wind farm when he visited the convertor station construction site.
The Redcar student is keen to pursue his interest in renewable energy and was recently awarded a Dogger Bank Wind Farm scholarship to support his engineering studies. He hopes to visit the site again when the mechanical and electrical works have started.
Anthony said:
“It was a great experience to see how the Dogger Bank project is coming alive. I plan on using all of my visits, experiences and knowledge for my dissertation next year. Thank you to Chris and the team for a phenomenal day and making me feel so welcome. It has certainly inspired me.”
Chris O’Donnell, Site Manager for DBC Onshore Converter Station, said:
“Anthony was a pleasure to meet. He was friendly, polite, attentive, and interested in what we showed him on-site, which included the HVDC/AC cable routes and the OCS platform Works.
It’s great to share our journey with one of our Dogger Bank Wind Farm scholars and bring the project to life for the next generation of industry experts.”
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%).
Dogger Bank Wind Farm’s Scholarship Fund provides grants of £5,000 to 50 local students undertaking science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) courses in further education.
The scholarship fund focuses on the areas of East Riding of Yorkshire, and Redcar and Cleveland, where the windfarm connects to the National Grid, as well as South Tyneside, where the Operation and Maintenance Base will be located.
Students are reminded the scheme 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/.
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Picture caption: Chris O’Donnell and Anthony Bell
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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