9th January 2025 in Community News
- The operator fund community grants are available to community projects in South Tyneside, East Riding of Yorkshire, and Redcar and Cleveland.
- Dogger Bank Wind Farm provides £75,000 of funding to the operator fund each year.
- Each community grant will provide up to £1,000 of funding.
Community projects near our construction and operation bases can now apply for the latest round of funding from the Dogger Bank operator fund to support their activities.
The operator fund supports local community projects in East Riding of Yorkshire, Redcar and Cleveland, and South Tyneside – the locations of the wind farm’s grid connection points and the operations and maintenance base.
The operator fund provides a total of £75,000 of funding in grants of up to £1,000 for local community projects who have a constitution and deliver activities in Redcar and Cleveland, South Tyneside or East Riding of Yorkshire.
Community grants can be used to enhance quality of life for local residents; contribute to vibrant, healthy, successful and sustainable communities; and/or promote community spirit and encourage community activity.
Eligible 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 funding decisions are made by a panel with representatives from wind farm joint venture partners Equinor and SSE Renewables, as well as independent participant Hannah Smiles from NOF. NOF is a not-for-profit business development organisation helping to make connections between national businesses in the energy sector. owns and operates Energi Coast, North East England’s Offshore Wind Cluster.
Kay Doragh, Dogger Bank Wind Farm Community Investment manager said:
“At Dogger Bank Wind Farm, we’re committed to supporting local communities and the fantastic ideas they have to improve life in their area. We’ve funded projects to help young people into employment to solar lights to make village events safer and more welcoming. I can’t wait to see the projects we’ll be supporting in 2025.”
Redcar-based Darkside Diving received a grant from Dogger Bank Wind Farm last year, to purchase a compressor.
Club member, Donna Russell, said:
“Darkside Diving @Redcar has had a very busy and successful first year, growing to 50 members and completing over 250 club dives. Welcoming new trainees to our sport and growing our instructor team. We would like to thank the Dogger Bank grant fund for helping us to achieve the goals of our first year. Without their kind donation we would not have been able to achieve so much in such a short time.”
Dogger Bank Wind Farm is under construction more than 130 km off the Yorkshire coast and will generate enough renewable energy to power six million UK homes once completed. A joint venture between SSE Renewables, Equinor and Vårgrønn, SSE Renewables is leading on Dogger Bank construction and delivery while Equinor will operate the wind farm on completion.
In June 2024, 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.
Dogger Bank will use this funding to support local communities through three key programmes: STEM education and careers programmes, the Dogger Bank scholarship programme, and community grants via the operators fund.
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.
20th December 2024 in Community News
- Dogger Bank Wind Farm and Sofia Offshore Wind Farm extend support for North Sea Conservation, the charity behind the Whitby Lobster Hatchery
- Further financial commitment from the two wind farm projects will support the education and conservation project’s long-term sustainability
Dogger Bank wind Farm and RWE’s Sofia Offshore Wind Farm have committed to increasing and extending their support for the North Sea Conservation charity with a new £50,000 donation paid jointly by the two wind farms.
North Sea Conservation operates Whitby Lobster Hatchery, a project that is currently in the process of releasing 100,000 juvenile lobsters into the North Sea. The project is committed to ensuring the seas are sustainable and rich in diversity for years to come, providing invaluable stocks of crustaceans for the local fishing industry, thereby safeguarding the region’s primary economy while improving marine biodiversity.
This latest sponsorship will provide new premises for North Sea Conservation, including research space, which will enable the development of future projects, including an improvement in research potential.
Support from the wind farm projects goes directly towards the work of the Whitby Lobster Hatchery helping the project to deliver on its key aims of conservation, education and research.
Whitby Lobster Hatchery General Manager, Joe Redfern, said:
“We have always had high ambitions for the impact our project can have on the marine environment. The support we have received from both offshore projects has been a huge help in starting to realise those ambitions. We are really grateful for their support and are glad to be working with them into the future.”
As well as helping with the hatchery equipment, the support from the two offshore wind farms will assist the charity’s ambitious endeavours to release 100,000 lobsters each year. By rearing lobster larvae in the hatchery, the charity will dramatically boost the lobsters’ chance of survival. The conservation charity has high ambitions to ensure the protection and conservation of lobster populations in the region and help ensure the future of our fishing fleets.
Dogger Bank Wind Farm Lead Offshore Consents Manager, Elizabeth Reynolds, said:
“It’s been our great privilege to see this education and conservation project grow since we started working with them a number of years ago.
“The organisation is already achieving impressive results for both its work releasing juvenile lobsters, and its local engagement and educational outreach. This further investment aims to help the organisation to secure its long-term growth and sustainability and builds on the legacy we’ve created through investment in our key communities.”
Matthew Swanwick, Sofia’s Project Director, said:
“Each year, wind farm projects operated by RWE invest more than £5million into community funds. Our approach is holistic and inclusive. We provide funding which enhances community services, boosts tourism, creates training grants for young people with the support offered both holistic and inclusive.
“One of our key priorities of our Sofia project development fund is to support sustainability and promote responsible stewardship of the environment. We see enormous value in the work of the Whitby Lobster Hatchery and are proud to be one of their sponsors.”
Both wind farms are located on the Dogger Bank area of seabed, more than 80 miles off the Yorkshire coast, with their export cables coming ashore on Teesside. Sofia is owned by RWE and Dogger Bank Wind Farm is a joint venture between SSE Renewables, Equinor and Vårgrønn.
11th December 2024 in Supply Chain
- Agreement charters second turbine installation vessel for ongoing delivery of Dogger Bank
Dogger Bank Wind Farm has today signed a vessel reservation agreement with Seaway7, part of the Subsea7 Group, to charter a second turbine installation vessel to support the ongoing delivery of the offshore wind farm off the coast of England.
Starting in 2026, the Seaway Ventus jack-up installation vessel is expected to commence turbine transport and installation work of GE Vernova Haliade-X offshore wind turbines at the Dogger Bank site.
This agreement represents additional work for Seaway7 at the Dogger Bank development where the company has the contracts for transport and installation of the monopile foundations and transition pieces on all three phases of the project, with the works on Dogger Bank A complete and the works on Dogger Bank B substantially complete.
Turbine installation and commissioning work is continuing at Dogger Bank A, with completion of the first phase of the offshore wind farm expected in the second half of calendar year 2025.
When fully complete in 2027, Dogger Bank will be the world’s largest offshore wind farm, capable of powering around 6 million UK homes annually.
Dogger Bank Wind Farm is a joint venture between SSE Renewables (40%), Equinor (40%) and Vårgrønn (20%). SSE Renewables is leading construction of the project on behalf of the three joint venture partners. Equinor will be lead operator of the wind farm on completion for its expected operational life of around 35 years.
10th December 2024 in Community News
Can imagination change the world? We think so! Take part in the Making Waves challenge.
Got a child at school here or know a teacher in the area? See if they want to get involved in the annual design challenge by Little Inventors – a programme create by Dogger Bank Wind Farm and South Tyneside Council.
Running across Key Stages 1 – 3, the challenge involves workshops and invention to come up with ideas to tackle real issues in the world.
This year the theme is Making Waves – and the best ideas will be made into real prototypes by local makers.
Last year one of the winning designs was nominated for a Best Invention award by the Engineer Magazine – at the age of 10! So well worth getting involved.
Upload your ideas by the 30th April 2025!
Click here to get involved today
9th December 2024 in Supply Chain
An innovative inter-array cable monitoring system that aims to identify and prevent potential faults is set to be installed on a further phase of Dogger Bank Wind Farm.
Under a contract with DEME, Proserv will deploy its Electro Cable Guard (ECG™) technology on Dogger Bank C, enhancing asset reliability through earlier failure detection and prevention.
Proserv’s ECG is already being deployed at Dogger Bank A and B.
The Dogger Bank C contract will be project managed, engineered and delivered by Proserv’s Great Yarmouth based team, in addition to the work being carried out at the wind farm’s A and B phases.
Using unique passive electrical sensors to monitor inter-array cables and terminations, ECG delivers early fault detection that traditional systems overlook, transforming maintenance strategies and strengthening resilience in offshore operations. It works by permanently and synchronously monitoring the combined effect of electrical and mechanical stresses on power cables and terminations to identify failure precursors far earlier, providing real-time insights into transmission system health.
Proserv’s Vice President of Renewables, Paul Cook, said:
“We are incredibly proud to secure this contract, positioning Proserv as the cable monitoring provider for DEME Offshore across the three phases of the Dogger Bank project, the world’s largest offshore wind farm currently under construction.
“As more offshore wind developments come online, unplanned cable and termination failures are an increasing concern. This latest evolution of our breakthrough ECG system offers substantial cost savings benefits to developers and operators, addressing the widespread issue of cable failures, which account for approximately 80% of wind-farm related insurance claims. Unlike conventional methods, our solution embeds passive optical electrical sensors directly within terminations, eliminating the need for additional power and telecoms infrastructure at each termination point. This enhances efficiency, streamlines data collection, and provides real-time alerts to prevent downtime, reducing repair costs by up to 80% when interventions are planned proactively.”
Dogger Bank Wind Farm Senior Project Manager, Alan Evans, said:
“Availability of assets is critical to the efficient supply of renewable electricity into our decarbonised energy system. We’ve been working with DEME and Proserv to pioneer the use of ECG monitoring technology on the first phases of our project, and we look forward to building on this relationship with Dogger Bank C.”
Synaptec’s Chief Executive Officer, Dr Philip Orr, said:
“We’re excited to work with Proserv to lead the way in de-risking offshore power generation. The future of clean energy depends on reliably transporting renewable power to the grid, and that means taking action to maximise the resilience of offshore power assets. This project will be a significant milestone in the development of the offshore wind sector, and we are proud to play our part in making it as successful and productive as possible.”
