Offshore staff
STAVANGER, Norway – Dogger Bank Wind Farm and GE Renewable Energy have agreed on provisional contracts for the first two phases of the Dogger Bank wind farm offshore northeast England.
This is a joint venture between SSE Renewables, which is managing construction, and Equinor, which will operate the 3.6-GW project, which has a forecast lifespan of at least 25 years.
According to Equinor, it will also be the world’s largest offshore wind farm to date.
Subject to Dogger Bank A and B reaching financial closure, anticipated later this year, GE will supply 190 Haliade-X 13-MW offshore wind turbines, comprising 95 turbines for each of the first two phases of the project, Dogger Bank A and B.
The company will establish its marshaling harbor activities at Able Seaton Port in Hartlepool on the northeast English coast as the base for turbine service equipment, installation, and commissioning activities.
Component parts delivered will include the nacelle, three tower sections and three 107-m (351-ft) long blades for pre-assembly at the site prior to transport to the North Sea location over 130 km (81 mi) from the Yorkshire coast to the south for installation. Turbine installation should get under way in 2023 at Dogger Bank A.
Dogger Bank will be capable of powering up to 4.5 million homes each year in the UK when complete in 2026. The three consecutive phases; Dogger Bank A, Dogger Bank B and Dogger Bank C, should each generate around 6TWh of electricity annually.
GE’s Haliade-X 13-MW turbine is said to be an enhanced version of the successful 12-MW prototype that has been generating power in Rotterdam since November 2019, and which recently received DNV GL’s provisional type certificate.
According to Equinor, the prototype set a world record this January as the first wind turbine to produce 288 MWh in one day. It will start operating at 13 MW over the next few months as part of the testing and certification process.
The upgraded 13MW Haliade-X will also feature 107-m long blades and a 220-m (722-ft) rotor.
Jan de Nul’s jackup vessel Voltaire will install the turbines, which will be fixed to monopile foundations. The preferred supplier for the foundation fabrication should be announced later this year.
The project will also be the UK’s first in the UK to employ a high voltage direct current transmission system, Equinor said, due to the long distance to the grid connection point.
09/22/2020
