10th October 2024 in Community News
A 16-year-old schoolgirl from Redcar got the chance to sample life on an offshore construction support vessel, after winning a competition with Dogger Bank Wind Farm.
KTS Academy pupil, Samantha Donoghue, was welcomed on board the Skywalker vessel by its multi-national crew, and was given a VIP tour of its state-of-the-art facilities.
Samantha was invited to visit the vessel after winning the Dogger Bank Wind Farm World Book Day competition earlier this year. The 500-word challenge to create an energy-themed superhero story, was launched in March.
The competition was part of the Dogger Bank Wind Farm-funded Building our Futures programme, which aims to embed STEM careers education into every primary school in Redcar and Cleveland, through engaging workshops supported by local employers.
The programme is delivered by Redcar and Cleveland Voluntary Development Agency (RCVDA) with strategic support and guidance from Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council.
A panel of judges selected Samantha’s Ice Man poem as the winning entry, and the KTS pupil was treated to a behind-the-scenes tour of a vessel supporting the construction of the world’s largest offshore windfarm.
As part of her tour, Samantha was invited by the ship’s captain to visit the vessel’s bridge and sit in his seat, before enjoying a lunch with some of the crew in the on-board restaurant.
Samantha said:
“I enjoyed myself and liked learning about the different type of jobs on the Skywalker. It was exciting and the staff were helpful and funny.
“It was interesting to learn about career opportunities on the Skywalker for young people in our area. The staff were really kind and welcoming, it was a fantastic day out for us.”
Building Our Futures programme manager, Jacqui Hutchinson of the Redcar and Cleveland Voluntary Development Agency, said:
“I was thrilled with the number of entries to our first Building our Futures Creative Writing competition, and Sammi’s story of Iceman and the penguins, captured all the judges’ hearts whilst fulfilling the brief exactly.
“The prize of a visit to the Skywalker highlights the importance of real employer engagements and workplace visits for all young people, and is at the heart of Building our Futures”
Sam Smith, class teacher at KTS Academy, said:
“Samantha has really enjoyed participating in the Building our Futures programme within school and learning about where we get different types of energy from and how we use it.
“Samantha created her Iceman superhero story after learning about how some types of energy impact the environment and animal habitats. We are really proud that Samantha’s story has been awarded first prize!”
Rachel Lawrence, Community Engagement Manager for Dogger Bank Wind Farm, said:
“It was a real privilege to welcome Samantha onto our fantastic Skywalker vessel at Teesport, and introduce her to the people behind the construction of the world’s largest offshore wind farm.
“Samantha treated us to a fantastic recital of her Ice Man poem and had some interesting questions for the team about life on board the Skywalker.
“Huge congratulations to Samantha for being selected as our competition winner. We can’t wait to see where her writing takes her next.”
Set to be the world’s largest offshore wind farm once complete, Dogger Bank is situated over 130km from the Yorkshire coast and will produce enough renewable energy to supply electricity to six million homes in the UK annually. The wind farm is a joint venture between SSE Renewables, Equinor, and Vårgrønn.
The project’s IWS Skywalker vessel is one of a fleet of state-of-the-art construction support vessels in operation in the North Sea. The boat returns to ports in the Tees Valley on a fortnightly basis for crew change, before returning to the field.
The Norwegian vessel can accommodate more than 100 passengers and has a sauna, a gym and games room, as well as onboard office and conference facilities.
The onboard team is made up of representatives from Dogger Bank Wind Farm and a large number of its supply chain companies. The vessel is currently supporting the commissioning of offshore assets.
7th October 2024 in Press releases
- Members of the public are invited to have their say in the coming weeks on a potential fourth phase of Dogger Bank Wind Farm, Dogger Bank D.
- Consultation opens on Tuesday 10 September and is open until Tuesday 22 October
A public consultation into the Dogger Bank D wind farm proposals will begin on Tuesday 10 September, and run for six weeks ending on Tuesday 22 October 2024. The public consultation will feature local in-person events and an online Q&A session to gather feedback from the public.
Dogger Bank D is a potential new fourth phase of the Dogger Bank Wind Farm, the world’s largest offshore wind farm, which is currently under construction. Dogger Bank D would be located in the North Sea, around 210km off the Yorkshire coast and be capable of generating up to 2GW of renewable power. The consultation outlines introductory offshore and onshore proposals for the wind farm.
The consultation offers the community a chance to learn more about the project, ask questions and provide feedback. The project team encourages all feedback during this consultation phase, which will be accepted until midnight on Tuesday 22 October 2024. This input is important in helping to refine the plans for the project. A further phase of consultation is scheduled for 2025.
“We are excited to welcome the public to our consultation events for Dogger Bank D and provide the opportunity for the community to learn more about our proposals. It’s vital for those who live or work locally to be informed about our plans and we look forward to sharing our ideas with the community and listening to what they have to say”
Sophie Large, Senior Project Manager for Dogger Bank D
From Tuesday 10 September, project materials including the consultation brochure, maps and feedback forms will be available for download at www.doggerbankd.com. Consultation documents can also be requested directly from the project team by email or freephone or collected from community access points. For more information, please visit www.doggerbankd.com, call the freephone number on 0800 254 5029 or email contact@doggerbankd.com.
4th October 2024 in Community News
We are delighted to announce that Emily Hamilton has been awarded the Dogger Bank purchase prize award for five of her artwork pieces from her final year degree show.
Emily said on winning the prize, “I am so happy that my work was selected for this award. It was a perfect ending to my degree and a promising start to my career as an artist.”
I love seeing my paintings alongside so many amazing works from past students, and I hope my paintings bring a smile to the people who work at Dogger Bank”.
Born in Bishop Auckland, Emily creates ‘dream-like worlds’ within her art that explore the feeling of living in a fake reality, the belief you are the only person who exists, nothing is real and nobody else can prove you are conscious.
Emily’s winning pieces focus on the medieval character of the Jester; a silly unserious character, with the ability to have political influence in the royal court. The Jesters show the cruelties of war, and how in this alternate reality, each side’s differences result in the end of the world.
Mark Halliday, Dogger Bank Operations Director, said:
“We’re proud to support local artists through our purchase prize award. Emily’s artwork is a fantastic addition to our world-class operations base, where it adds a touch of creativity for our team members and visitors to see. At Dogger Bank Wind Farm, we are committed to giving back to the communities where we operate, investing in local initiatives and supporting the development of local talent.”
Dogger Bank Wind Farm is working with Newcastle art gallery Gallagher and Turner on the purchase prize, with a planned yearly purchase prize for art students at Newcastle and Sunderland Universities. Selected works will be displayed at the Wind Farm’s Operations and Maintenance base.
Professor Kevin Petrie, Professor of Creative Practice at the University of Sunderland, said:
“It’s wonderful for the University of Sunderland to be a part of the Dogger Bank Purchase prize as it aims to enhance the working environment of those involved in a really important project for sustainability and the environment. This is central to our curriculum in Media and Creative Industry subjects where our students are using their creativity to make the World a better place. In Emily’s case, she is creating pieces that will intrigue and delight those who see the pieces on display. This prize is also an important career boost for those like Emily who are setting up in business as creatives.”
Over 30 pieces of art from North East artists, supplied by Gallagher and Turner, are already permanently displayed at the operations and maintenance base.
Clare Turner, Partner, Gallagher & Turner said:
“It’s been an important part of Gallagher & Turner’s process to work with Dogger Bank O&M Base employees to establish a connection with the artworks selected, curating works that they like. After consulting with the team we wanted to represent intergenerational talent from across the North East. The Dogger Bank Purchase Prize is selected by Dogger Bank Employees, and has been a great way to showcase and support exciting new art graduates within this evolving collection.”
In 2024, three original murals were installed at the base, all featuring original designs by local primary school children, in a collaboration between Gallagher and Turner, South Tyneside Council, and The Foundation Press.
In June, Dogger Bank Wind Farm announced additional funding of £25 million to support coastal communities across the North and North East of England, over its planned 35-year operational lifespan.
This commitment includes funding projects that enhance STEM education to help young people gain the skills and knowledge required to fulfil their potential in a net zero world.
The new community fund builds on the £1 million community fund set up during the construction phase of Dogger Bank, which has already supported more than 36,000 young people across 204 schools, provided 62 university scholarships, and provided 87 grants to local community groups.
Find out more about this £25 million commitment from Dogger Bank Wind Farm here.
Dogger Bank Wind Farm is a joint venture between SSE Renewables (40%), Equinor (40%) and Vårgrønn (20%). SSE Renewables is lead operator for the development and construction of Dogger Bank Wind Farm. Equinor will be lead operator of the wind farm on completion for its expected operational life of around 35 years. Vårgrønn (controlled by ENI) provides specialist offshore wind expertise to the project.
12th September 2024 in Community News, Press releases, Project news
- Anglo-Saxon discoveries near Ulrome and Skipsea close to location where Anglo-Saxon timber hall was excavated by York University earlier this year.
- Dogger Bank discoveries indicate Anglo-Saxons settled in Holderness.
- Evidence of Bronze Age, Iron-Age and Roman presence also excavated during Dogger Bank work.
- Archaeologists to talk about their significant discoveries at public event in Ulrome on 20 September.
Archaeologists working on Dogger Bank Wind Farm will reveal at a public event next week how they unearthed significant evidence of Anglo-Saxon presence in Holderness.
The ground-breaking early medieval discoveries were unearthed by the archaeologists working on the 30km corridor that houses the underground cables transmitting renewable energy from Dogger Bank Wind Farm in the North Sea, to the wind farm’s two onshore convertor stations off the A1079 near Beverley.
These significant discoveries include remnants of an Anglo-Saxon long hall structure between Beeford and Skipsea, and an Iron-Age or Anglo-Saxon glass bead recovered from a site in Ulrome. The two sites close to Beeford produced the most evidence for Anglo-Saxon activity.
More radiocarbon dating of the activity on these sites is required, but at the moment an area of 5th-6th century activity associated with metalworking has been identified, close to a separate area where a long hall and field system ditches were recorded. The findings indicate Anglo-Saxons probably lived and farmed in this landscape over multiple phases between the 5th-11th centuries.
Radiocarbon dating is a scientific method for accurately determining the age of organic materials, by analysing the decay of radioactive isotopes. The developers of the windfarm have invested in this technique to ensure the project provides local communities and historians with accurate data about how the land was used hundreds of years ago.
Across the pipeline route archaeologists also discovered Iron Age and Roman evidence including well-preserved roundhouses in Ulrome, Beeford and Leven, a long-handled bone comb in Leven and significant amounts of handmade and wheel-thrown pottery.
It has long been clear the Holderness area was inhabited by the Anglo-Saxons due to the names of the towns and villages in the area, many of which incorporate Anglo-Saxon elements. Over recent years archaeological evidence has begun to emerge of Anglo-Saxon activity in the landscape, and the findings near Beeford add significantly to an emerging picture of Anglo-Saxon life in the region, greatly enhancing understanding of the period in Holderness.
The evidence for domestic and industrial activity that was unearthed at the sites, which has been evaluated and confirmed by medieval specialists, is of particular importance and significance.
Since the excavations at Beeford, a team of experts from York University has excavated a nearby site in Skipsea, further confirming the presence of Anglo-Saxons in the local area, centuries ago.
Community Engagement Manager for Dogger Bank Wind Farm, Rachel Lawrence, said:
“Safeguarding historical evidence has been a critical part of our preparation work on Dogger Bank Wind Farm. We’re delighted we’re now able to share these exciting findings with the people who live in the towns and villages where this work was undertaken.
“As well as the multi-million pound investment Dogger Bank Wind Farm is making to support its key coastal communities, this work will add to the legacy we’ve created during the construction of the world’s largest offshore wind farm.”
The work was completed by Dogger Bank Wind Farm contractor AOC Archaeology, and their analysis has been supported by a wide team of artefact and period specialists.
Dogger Bank Wind Farm has commissioned the production of replicas of some of the artefacts for educational purposes, and is set to share these with the public for the first time next week.
Representatives from the wind farm and AOC Archaeology will present the findings at a public event at Rickaby Village Hall in Ulrome, at 6pm on 20 September.
After the public event the replicas will be made available for local schools, to bring local history to life in the classroom. They include handmade replicas of a 6,000-year-old flint arrowhead, an Iron Age or Anglo-Saxon glass bead, an Iron Age to Roman bone comb and pottery that is thought to date back more than 2,000 years.
An online exhibition is also set to be launched later this year, giving the public access to a wealth of information about AOC’s work in the East Riding of Yorkshire.
During the Ulrome event AOC experts will share insight into the process of excavating and preserving historical artefacts, and describe the moment they realised they were on the verge of a regionally-significant discovery.
Project Manager for AOC Archaeology, Rebecca Jarosz- Blackburn, said:
“For me the most surprising and rewarding discovery on this project was the Anglo-Saxon long hall and associated field systems we recorded near Beeford, which represents some of the most extensive evidence from the period in the Holderness region.
“Since then it’s exciting to see further evidence from the period emerge, including the recent discovery of another Anglo-Saxon long hall in Skipsea by researchers from York University.
“Together our work on Dogger Bank Wind Farm and this work by York University is adding significant bodies of evidence like Anglo-Saxon pottery, metalwork and industrial materials in a region where Anglo-Saxon evidence has historically been quite sparse.
“Anglo Saxon discoveries of this kind are really interesting, because they give an opportunity to look at the everyday lives of people from the period – including how they farmed and interacted with the landscape. Unlike a cemetery site, where you might find the brooches and more precious items, if you can identify an Anglo-Saxon farming or settlement site you get a rare chance to investigate more of the reality of life in the period.”
Rickaby Village Hall was chosen for this event due to its proximity to the wind farm’s landfall point at Ulrome, where the wind farm’s sub-sea cables meet the onshore cables, for onward transmission to the convertor stations near Beverley. An Iron Age or Anglo-Saxon glass bead that forms part of the school education pack was also unearthed in the village of Ulrome.
The event is supported by Lissett and Ulrome Parish Council.
A second event is set to be held at a location further on in the 30km cable corridor at a future date to be confirmed.
AOC Project Manager Matt Walker, who grew up in East Yorkshire, also has a local connection to the Dogger Bank project. He said:
“One of the exciting outputs of the projects has been the volume of pottery coming out of our ditches – from some sites (including near Leven) there were wheelbarrows full of pottery.
“The region is known for producing Iron Age to Roman pottery so this is not a surprise, and to date the pottery we have typologies giving date ranges based on the fabrics and styles etc.
“At Dogger Bank, one of our main research aims was to try and narrow the current date ranges for handmade prehistoric and Roman pottery in the region by using radiocarbon dating.
“It is the scale of this project across the region, coupled with funding for radiocarbon dates, that gives us a really meaningful opportunity to add to this research theme and advance our understanding of Holderness thousands of years ago.
“What we found in and around Burshill was the core of an Iron Age to Roman settlement that would not have been uncovered without this net zero development.
“There are more artefacts that we’re still analysing and we hope to provide further information about them as our understanding becomes clearer.”
AOC and Dogger Bank Wind Farm are currently considering options for permanently locating the original artefacts once they’ve been fully analysed, with a preference to find a home close to where they were unearthed.
Set to be the world’s largest offshore wind farm once complete, Dogger Bank is situated over 130km from the Yorkshire coast and will produce enough renewable energy to supply electricity to six million homes in the UK annually. The wind farm, a joint venture between SSE Renewables, Equinor, and Vårgrønn, produced first power in October 2023.
The first two phases of the wind farm will transmit renewable energy into the national electricity network via the Creyke Beck substation near Beverley, close to the site where the project has built two onshore convertor stations over the last five years.
30th August 2024 in Project news
Following the blade event on 22 August on an installed turbine at the Dogger Bank A offshore wind farm construction site, Dogger Bank Wind Farm has been working closely with turbine manufacturer, GE Vernova, to investigate the root cause of the event.
GE Vernova analysis has shown that this blade event was not caused by an installation or manufacturing issue but instead occurred during the commissioning process.
GE Vernova analysis has established that during the commissioning process being performed by GE Vernova, the turbine was left in a fixed and static position, rendering it vulnerable during a subsequent storm with high winds.
The surrounding marine area at the site remains restricted in line with safety procedures. Installation activities at the site will restart in the coming days.
