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Dogger Bank Wind Farm Community Fund supports virtual work experience for South Tyneside pupils

26th May 2022 in Community News, Events, Press releases

  • Event Date: 23rd May 2022
  • Location: Virtual
  • 300 students in South Tyneside to benefit from work experience that has not been available in person due to the pandemic.
  • The theme ‘Engineering your Future’ will allow pupils to explore what a career in STEM is really like.
  • The activities are part of a £1 million community fund investment during the construction of the wind farm.

300 secondary school children in the North East of England are set to benefit from virtual work experience, to help prepare them for future careers.

The activities have been developed in partnership with South Tyneside Council, where the Operation and Maintenance Base will be located at the Port of Tyne. This is part of a wider £1 million community investment fund putting science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) at the heart of young people’s education, to help them prepare for the jobs that will be vital to the green economic recovery of the UK.

Cllr Tracey Dixon, Leader of South Tyneside Council, said:

“This week-long event will provide a fantastic opportunity for our students to gain insight and understanding of the STEM careers that developments like Dogger Bank will be opening up right on our doorstep.

“South Tyneside is at the forefront of the green industrial revolution and it’s vital that our young people can capitalise on that.

“Nurturing a  well-qualified workforce is a priority for us and engaging with students with events like this will help broaden their aspirations and give them the knowledge and skills they need to support industry.”

Due to the pandemic no school children are able to attend work experience in person this year in South Tyneside, therefore, Dogger Bank Wind Farm is working with Springpod to deliver an online week long work experience to provide children an overview of STEM careers and set them some interesting challenges. The theme ‘Engineering your Future’ will explore what its really like to work in a role built on the foundation of STEM subjects.

Tom Nightingale, North East Stakeholder Manager said:

“The virtual work experience will be vital to support local school pupils with the skills needed to prepare them for their future careers. We are proud to be delivering such important services that can make a real difference to the lives of people in our local communities, in addition to the jobs and supply chain benefits created by the wind farm.

“This is one of the ways that our community fund will benefit an estimated 14,000 young people in the north-east of England, as we open their eyes to the green industry opportunities of our net zero future and help to unlock their future potential.“

In addition to enhancing STEM provision in the classroom, 62 students from the north-east of England and East Riding of Yorkshire will receive a scholarship to help with the cost of further education qualifications while studying STEM subjects, with the first 25 already awarded.

The £1 million investment also includes an Operators Fund to support other local causes to the value of up to £500. Community projects and local organisations in South Tyneside are able to apply at www.doggerbank.com.

Additional community funding will be allocated throughout the operational phase of the windfarm. The Dogger Bank Wind Farm STEM investment is one of the largest commitments to skills ever made by the offshore wind sector.

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 Plenitude, SSE Renewables is leading on Dogger Bank construction and delivery while Equinor will operate the wind farm for its lifetime, from a new base to be constructed at Port of Tyne.

Picture caption: Pupils from Boldon School are among those in the North East of England who will benefit from this investment from Dogger Bank Wind Farm.

Dogger Bank Wind Farm brings skills to the forefront of conversations with the supply chain

19th May 2022 in Events, Press releases, Supply Chain

  • Event Date: 19th May 2022
  • Location: Virtual

Dogger Bank Wind Farm today hosts a supply chain event, focused around skills in offshore wind, a first for developer led supply chain events. Growth in the sector continues to accelerate and skills is high on the agenda for industry locally and nationally. The event will explore the skills challenge and how Dogger Bank Wind Farm is working to address this through industry and community engagement.

200 attendees have registered ahead of the event, highlighting the importance of skills to the supply chain in North East England, one of the largest and most established offshore wind clusters in the UK.

The event brings together regional and national industry experts as well as employees from the wind farm to discuss how developers can make a wider impact than job creation, by supporting activities in the areas impacted by their operations and beyond.

Tom Nightingale, North East Stakeholder Manager said “Developing the talent of tomorrow is at the heart of our community investment for Dogger Bank and we are working with local authorities, skills providers and community groups across the North and North East of England to support this. As part of our supply chain initiatives in 2022, we are determined to raise skills to the top of the agenda through this event and look forward to sharing the knowledge and experience of our panel. We hope to educate and inspire the supply chain to support skills initiatives as well as learning from their own experiences”.

Recruitment for the operations team continues to ramp up with leadership positions now filled in key areas as well as recently the first 10 Wind Turbine Technicians. New recruits have joined from within offshore wind as well as transferring from other sectors such as oil & gas and automotive, with a focus on recruiting a local and diverse team. Looking ahead, working with local industry groups and education institutions is essential to building a future skills pipeline. The skills event includes insights from Energi Coast skills group, the Offshore Wind Industry Council (OWIC), Dogger Bank Community Fund and the Dogger Bank operations team.

Celia Anderson, Offshore Wind Sector Deal – Director of People & Skills said “The offshore wind industry is experiencing huge growth and projects such as Dogger Bank Wind Farm play a key role in preparing the next generation for future roles with operational experience. At the same time there are many opportunities to attract talent from other sectors and I am delighted to support this event and share how the UK’s offshore wind sector can successfully grow around regional clusters, whilst building a more diverse pipeline and workforce.”  

Dogger Bank Wind Farm will be located more than 130 km off the North East coast and will generate enough renewable energy to power six million UK homes. A joint venture between SSE Renewables, Equinor and Eni Plenitude, SSE Renewables is leading on Dogger Bank construction and delivery while Equinor will operate the wind farm for its lifetime, from a new base to be constructed at Port of Tyne.

Dogger Bank Wind Farm celebrates transmission technology milestone

10th May 2022 in Construction, Press releases, Project news, Supply Chain

The first of a number of transformers that will enable the transmission of renewable energy from the world’s largest offshore wind farm has been delivered.  

The transformers will play an integral role in the operation of three onshore convertor stations in East Riding of Yorkshire and on Teesside, that will eventually convert the current from the wind farm for transmission via the national grid network to 6 million UK homes.  

This week the first transformer was successfully transported from Port of Hull to the first convertor station off the A1079 near Beverley in East Riding, where construction of a second convertor station is also underway by tier one supplier Hitachi Energy. Three further deliveries are scheduled in East Riding on the mornings of 15, 22 and 29 May, with deliveries for the second East Riding convertor station taking place in 2023.  

Heavy lift and transportation specialist Allelys, was appointed by Hitachi Energy to carry out and oversee these latest deliveries. 

Dogger Bank Wind Farm Transmission Package Manager Børge Angelfloss, said:  

“Successful delivery of the first transformer is an important milestone for our world-leading project.  

“Our thanks go to all those involved in ensuring this happened safely, including the local highways authority and representatives from Humberside Police for their valuable expertise on the route between Port of Hull and our convertor station site.” 

Hitachi Energy is due to start work on the third convertor station on Teesside later this year. The company is responsible for providing its high-voltage direct current (HVDC) Light® systems for all three phases of the wind farm, including the projects three high-tech onshore convertor stations.  

Göran Isacsson, Project Director for Hitachi Energy, said: 

 “Hitachi Energy is proud to be connecting the Dogger Bank Wind Farm to the energy grid using HVDC (high voltage direct current) technology.  

“The delivery and installation of the transformers at the onshore converter stations we are building are important milestones for the project. We are pleased to have successfully achieved this first shipment and we thank the local authorities and community for their support and patience.”  

Dogger Bank Wind Farm is being built in three phases known as A, B and C. The project 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.   

Last month the Dogger Bank Wind Farm team officially marked the start of its offshore construction work with the installation of the first length of HVDC export cable off the Yorkshire coast.

Tier one supplier NKT is leading the work to install the Dogger Bank A nearshore cable, that will connect the first phase of the windfarm more than 130km off the coast to a landfall point at Ulrome, in East Riding of Yorkshire.

ENDS 

Picture caption: The first transformer has been delivered to the convertor station site for the first phase of Dogger Bank Wind Farm. Image source: Dogger Bank Wind Farm 

First transition pieces on the move

9th May 2022 in Construction, Project news, Supply Chain

The first transition pieces for the first phase of Dogger Bank Wind Farm have been successfully loaded out at Smulders’ yard in Hoboken, Belgium. The transition pieces are being shipped to Sif’s Maasvlakte 2 terminal in Rotterdam ahead of their installation in the North Sea starting later this year.

In total, 95 transition pieces will be installed on Dogger Bank A, with a further 182 required for phases B and C of the world’s largest offshore wind farm.

Dogger Bank Wind Farm Marine Package Manager, Alan Evans, said:

“With a diameter of 8m and weighing in at 550 tonnes, the Dogger Bank A transition pieces are the heaviest and have the largest diameter of any to be manufactured at Smulders’ Hoboken facility.

“Successful load out of the first four of these impressive structures is an important milestone for everyone involved, and a testament to the strong partnership we share with our designers and manufacturers.”

In November 2020, the consortium Sif and Smulders was awarded the contract for the manufacture of all 190 monopiles and transition pieces for the first phases of the wind farm in November 2020, with a contract for Dogger Bank C awarded in 2021.

The monopile foundations and transition pieces for the project were designed in the UK by Wood Thilsted. Steel manufactured by Tata Steel in Wales and processed in Corby and Hartlepool is to be 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.

Caption: The first transition pieces for the first phase of Dogger Bank Wind Farm have been successfully loaded out at Smulders’ yard in Hoboken, Belgium. Image source: Smulders

Offshore construction begins on world’s largest offshore wind farm with first export cable installation

29th April 2022 in Press releases, Project news, Supply Chain

The team building Dogger Bank Wind Farm has officially marked the start of its offshore construction work with the installation of the first length of HVDC export cable off the Yorkshire coast.

Tier one supplier NKT is leading the work to install the Dogger Bank A nearshore cable, that will connect the first phase of the windfarm more than 130km off the coast to a landfall point at Ulrome, in East Riding of Yorkshire.

Aberdeenshire-based ACE Winches and LMR Drilling UK Ltd of Birkenhead are among the companies supporting NKT with this work.

The campaign will continue during 2022, with work starting on the export cables for Dogger Bank B in East Riding, and Dogger Bank C on Teesside, in the consecutive years.

Dogger Bank Wind Farm 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.

Dogger Bank Wind Farm Project Director Steve Wilson, said:

“This is an exciting time for everyone involved in this project as we celebrate installing the first nearshore HVDC export cable safely and on-time.

“With the first foundations due to be installed later this year and the first turbines scheduled for installation in 2023, we’re now well on our way to achieving first power from this unrivalled global renewable energy asset.

“I’d like to extend my thanks to all those who’ve worked incredibly hard to reach this major offshore milestone.”

Dogger Bank Wind Farm is being built in three phases known as A, B and C. The project is a joint venture between SSE Renewables (40%), Equinor (40%) and Eni Plenitude (20%).

NKT will supply and install the onshore and offshore HVDC cable for all three phases of the project. The company will use its cable-laying vessel NKT Victoria to install the 320kV DC subsea cable system in the challenging North Sea conditions.

Head of Project Execution in NKT, Darren Fennell says:

“As a long term high-voltage DC technology partner to Equinor, Eni Plenitude and SSE, NKT is excited to have reached the installation phase of the Dogger Bank A near shore cables. The overall project is key for the continued European focus on increasing the use of renewable energy sources and we look forward to successfully completing the cable installations”.

LMR Drilling Managing Director, Jez Seamans said:

“It has been a fantastic project to be involved in, with the HDD landfalls forming a small but crucial part of the overall project linking the offshore power generating system with the onshore grid.  It is great to see the first of the cables being installed into these landfall ducts, another step in the ongoing decarbonisation of UK power”.

ENDS

Picture caption: Offshore construction work has started on Dogger Bank Wind Farm with the first export cable installation successfully completed. Image source: Dogger Bank Wind Farm.