18th April 2023 in Community News, Operations, Press releases, Project news, Supply Chain
Dogger Bank Wind Farm has partnered with Newcastle art gallery Gallagher & Turner to invest in local artwork which is being displayed permanently at the Operations and Maintenance Base in Port of Tyne.
- Major investment in local creative industry
- Over 30 pieces will be displayed
- All works to be displayed are by North East artists
- Employees invited to select the type of works to be displayed
The partnership represents a major investment in the local creative industry with over 30 pieces to be displayed, all by artists from North East England.
Clare Turner, Partner, Gallagher & Turner said: “The request to provide art for the Dogger Bank Operations and Maintenance base was an amazing opportunity for us to be able to assemble a portfolio of unique pieces by artists who work in the region. We immediately felt creatives whose practice relates to the local environment, the narratives of the Tyne, the North Sea coast, its history and the unique power of the landscape of the North East, were going to connect best with all our shared environmental concerns. We were also delighted to be asked to work with an organisation that is making a profound effort to connect with the local area commercially as well as visually by supporting a small independent art gallery.”
Employees at the O&M base helped select the type of works to be displayed, ensuring that the pieces would be enjoyed and appreciated by staff working at the state-of-the-art facility. Among the many artists featured, art works include a new Ringed Plover painted commission by Paul Henery, and Crispian Heath will be creating two new large scale glass commissions.
“Over the last thirty years we have been enthusiastic to run an exciting programme of continually changing exhibitions and with a pool of local talent to draw on we were able to propose a selection of original pieces for the building. We had some great involvement and feedback from the staff who were excited to see our proposals and going forward we are hopeful they will be continually inspired by these artworks” added Clare.
Dogger Bank Wind Farm plans to continue the partnership with Gallagher & Turner with a yearly Purchase Prize for art students at Sunderland and Newcastle Universities for the next 4 years, with the selected works to be displayed at the facility. Together, they also plan to commission three original murals to be displayed, working with the local community, South Tyneside Council and Foundation Press.
Felicity Wann, Operations Leader at Dogger Bank Wind Farm, said: “We wanted our new O&M base to reflect the Dogger Bank strategy of investing in the local community, as well as giving employees the opportunity to shape the O&M base and really make it their own. By investing in art by local artists we have been able to do both these things. Working with a fantastic local gallery, who guided us throughout and ensured we have a cohesive collection, reflecting the Dogger Bank environmental focus and the landscapes of North East England, has made the whole process a joy.”
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.
The wind farm, which will generate 3.6 GW of capacity, is being built in three 1.2 GW phases, named Dogger Bank A, B & C, and will be able to power the equivalent of 6 million UK homes on completion.
Picture caption: North East artists visit Dogger Bank Wind Farm Operations and Maintenance Base. From Left to Right: Rosie Morris and Clare Turner (Gallagher & Turner), Rhiannon Robinson, Paul Henery, Lily Senner, Alex Charrington, Jill Campbell, Mark Halliday (Dogger Bank Wind Farm), Crispian Heath, and Felicity Wann and Tom Nightingale (Dogger Bank Wind Farm).
6th April 2023 in Community News, Press releases
As part of its ongoing commitment to supporting local communities and enhancing the local environment, Dogger Bank Wind Farm has donated 60 bird boxes to schools across East Riding of Yorkshire during the project’s construction phase.
The nest boxes, complete with a supply of bird food for one season and 10 with cameras to enable enhanced learning, have been strategically placed around the schools’ grounds and are designed to provide safe and secure nesting sites for a variety of bird species, including blue tits, sparrows, and other common garden birds.
Students will have the opportunity to observe the wildlife and learn more about their behaviours and habitats. By providing these new homes, the project also hopes to encourage the local bird population and promote biodiversity.
Westfield Primary School in Cottingham, one of the ten schools allocated with a camera nest box, is currently in the process of setting up a monitoring team to capture and share activity inside the box, offering students opportunities for hands-on learning and engaging in real-world issues. Over the last few year the school caretaker has helped to develop an outdoor learning space, including building areas for nature to thrive – the bird boxes provide a tangible way to see the positive impact they can have on the environment.
Science Coordinator at Westfield Primary School, Mrs Bailey, said:
“’Westfield are very grateful for the bird box and camera. It would be fantastic if birds’ nest inside – what an amazing experience it would be for the children.”
The project has been met with enthusiasm by both students and staff alike. Students at Westfield were shown the live feed direct from the nest box and said:
“We are really excited about seeing the birds going in and out of the box and to see if any eggs will hatch.”
The bird boxes will be erected over Easter and placed outside their year 2 classroom.
Rachel Lawrence, Community Engagement Manager for Dogger Bank Wind Farm, said:
“We’re delighted to be able to offer these nest boxes to East Riding schools to enhance their learning, and as part of our commitment to protect and enhance wildlife during the construction of the world’s largest offshore wind farm.
“Dogger Bank Wind Farm is investing £1 million in science, technology, engineering, and maths (STEM) education during the construction of the wind farm, and we hope this donation will further enhance this STEM learning by enabling children to experience wildlife conservation in their school environment.”
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 (40%), Equinor (40%) and Vårgrønn (20%). SSE Renewables is leading on Dogger Bank construction and delivery while Equinor will operate the wind farm on completion.
The wind farm is being built in three phases known as Dogger Bank A, B and C. Dogger Bank A and B will connect the national electricity network between Beverley and Cottingham in East Riding, while Dogger Bank C will connect to the network at Lackenby in the Tees Valley.
Work to install more than 80 miles of underground high voltage cables from our landfall site at Ulrome, south of Bridlington, to our onshore convertor station near Beverley was in completed in late 2022, with some minor works ongoing at the converter station and landfall.
Work continues on the construction of our two East Riding convertor stations, as well as the installation of cables from the convertor station to the National Grid substation at Creyke Beck.
The first phase of the wind farm will start to produce power for UK homes and businesses this summer, with all three phases due to reach full power by 2026.
In June 2021, the wind farm unveiled plans for a £1 million construction fund across its key communities to help young people prepare for a Net Zero world, with all 124 East Riding primary schools being given an opportunity to increase and expand their STEM provision. 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.
Picture caption: Westfield Primary School students Lily Austin (left), William Palmer (right) pictured with Dogger Bank Wind Farm donated nest box.
29th March 2023 in Construction, Project news
More than 80% of the ducts that will house the cables transmitting renewable energy from two offshore wind projects to the national electricity network has been installed in Teesside.
Working in cooperation, Sofia Offshore Wind Farm and Dogger Bank C, the third phase of Dogger Bank Wind Farm share onshore cable corridors and to minimise local disruption, have joined forces to have their cable ducts installed by the same contractor at the same time.
The projects are both located on Dogger Bank, more than 195 kilometres from the north-east coast of England, with their export cables coming ashore on Teesside, between Redcar and Marske-by-the-Sea.
Sofia is 100% owned by RWE, and Dogger Bank Wind Farm is a joint venture between SSE Renewables, Equinor and Vårgrønn. Although they are owned by different companies, the developers realised early that it made sense to work jointly on their shared cable corridor, with civil engineering works being carried out by J Murphy & Sons (JMS). Sofia is leading the works on behalf of both projects.
More than 80% of the ducts that will house the cables transmitting renewable energy via the national electricity network on Teesside from two offshore wind farm projects are now in the ground and trenches backfilled. Work is underway on one key section of the route that requires the ducts to be installed using tunnelling rather than by trenching or horizontal directional drilling. Shafts have been established and a micro-tunnel boring machine is now working 24/7 to create four tunnels under the railway line at Black’s Bridge/Redcar Road.
The projects’ high voltage direct current (HVDC) cables will be pulled through the ducts, 7 kilometres to two new converter stations now under construction on the Wilton complex to the north-east of Lazenby. The first of the cables will arrive in the summer to be pulled through the ducts.
Each project will have a further 2 km of high voltage alternating current (HVAC) cables to transmit the converted power to the existing National Grid substation at Lackenby, where it will enter the national electricity network for distribution to homes and businesses.
Dogger Bank Wind Farm onshore package manager Stephen Reynolds, said:
“We really appreciate the ongoing patience of the local community as our joint contractor continues to install this critical infrastructure in readiness for first power from Dogger Bank C in 2025.
“Some of our ongoing works near the beach landfall requires extended working hours during evenings and weekends as we progress the projects, but our contractors are committed to ensuring mitigation is in place to minimise disruption wherever possible.”
Elsewhere on the two projects’ work is ongoing at the landfall site near Marske-by-the-Sea, with horizontal directional drilling due to take place between March and May in preparation for receiving the first cables this summer.
There may be some evening, overnight and Sunday working required at this location, but contractors are committed to ensuring noise and disturbance is minimal.
And at the site adjacent to the Wilton complex, near Lazenby village, work continues on the construction of the projects’ onshore converter stations as the valve halls, control rooms and storage buildings start to take shape. Some Sunday working will be required for the remainder of the year to carry out elements of groundwork and electrical installation, with measures also being taken there to minimise disruption.
27th March 2023 in Project news, Supply Chain, Uncategorised
- Work involves mechanical and electrical activities for the pre-assembly of the towers and nacelles
- Award supports 90 local jobs associated with multi-year effort to install, test, and commission Dogger Bank Wind Farm
GE Renewable Energy has selected Eastgate Engineering, based in Billingham, Teesside, to provide mechanical and electrical activities for the pre-assembly of the towers and nacelles for the Haliade-X turbines to be used at Dogger Bank Wind Farm.
The contract is expected to support approximately 90 local jobs including electrical and mechanical technicians, supervision and project management.
The mechanical and electrical engineering work will be done at Able Seaton Port, the Dogger Bank Wind Farm marshalling harbour. The work began in January 2023 and is expected to continue throughout all three phases of the pre-assembly of the wind farm, which is set to conclude in 2026.
Dogger Bank Wind Farm Commercial Director Simon Bailey, said:
“Eastgate Engineering is a very welcome addition to our Dogger Bank Wind Farm supply chain, as they help us prepare for turbine installation later this year. The Billingham-based company is one of a number of firms in the north-east bringing expertise to our world-leading project, which is supporting more than 2,000 UK-based roles during construction and operation.”
Nathan Fahey, GE Project Director for the Dogger Bank Wind Farm, said:
“We are pleased to announce that we have selected Eastgate Engineering to provide mechanical and electrical engineering support for the Dogger Bank Offshore Wind farm. They have the expertise and strong local presence we are looking for in the companies we are engaging to support this project. This award is another in a series of contracts with companies in the Teesside area that will both support and create jobs today and well into the future.”
David Brennan, Managing Director of Eastgate Engineering, said:
“Eastgate Engineering is delighted to work in close partnership with GE to deliver the world’s largest offshore wind farm. Our highly skilled, locally based workforce is excited to support such a historic project with such an important role to play in bringing more clean, renewable offshore wind online in the UK.”
GE announced in December 2022 it had selected Mammoet UK, based in Thornaby Teesside, to supply onshore heavy lifting and transport for the staging and assembly of turbine components for Dogger Bank Wind Farm.
20th March 2023 in Community News, Operations
A South Shields primary school choir sang at the official opening of the operations and maintenance base for Dogger Bank Wind Farm at the Port of Tyne.
St Peter and Paul Catholic Primary School, which is part of Bishop Chadwick Catholic Education Trust, attended the opening on behalf of the borough.
Jenny Parker, deputy headteacher and music lead at the primary school, said: “As a school situated in Tyne Dock, it has been wonderful to be involved in such an exciting event taking place on our doorstep and to raise the profile of Dogger Bank Wind Farm, which will be the world’s largest offshore wind farm upon completion.
“To be there at the opening has sparked interest in the children to find out more about renewable energy and the positive impact it has on our world.”
The choir comprises 29 pupils from Years 4, 5 and 6. They sang four songs to the guests as they arrived in the warehouse: Something Just Like This by Coldplay and The Chainsmokers, Rainbow by Kacey Musgraves, Fight Song by Rachel Platten and concluded with Big River by Jimmy Nail.
“The choir sang beautifully, and we received lots of compliments about their performance, particularly their rendition of Big River, which everyone loved,” added Mrs Parker.
Ethan Murry, nine, a Year 4 pupil, said: “We were very brave to sing in front of the mayor and the other important guests.”
Jesse Carr, nine, a pupil in Year 4, said: “I felt really underdressed walking in as everyone was in suits and ties. It was really good fun though.”
Holly Walker, eight, also in Year 4, added: “I thought it was cool that we were given hats and scarves to wear.”
Tom Nightingale, North East Stakeholder Manager for Equinor said: “The ethos of Dogger Bank Wind Farm is to support local communities and our guests expected local dignitaries to attend the opening ceremony. However, we kept the choir a surprise and they far exceeded our expectations. Feedback so far is that this was the highlight for guests and even UK Minister for Energy and Climate Graham Stuart who attended the event has sent his personal thanks to the brilliant school choir. The acapella version of Big River was amazing for all to hear”.
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.
South Tyneside Music Service emailed schools for interest to sing at the official opening and SS Peter and Paul Catholic Primary School was chosen.
