World's Largest Planned Windfarm Doubles in Size

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--The world's largest offshore windfarm development has doubled in size, following the U.K. government's approval of the Dogger Bank Teesside A and B offshore wind projects.

Dogger Bank Teesside A and B each have a planned installed capacity of up to 1,200 megawatts (MW) and combined, will be able to provide enough power for up to 1.8 million homes. In February, the government approved the Dogger Bank Creyke Beck A and B projects, also with a planned capacity of 1,200 MW each. For additional information, see February 25, 2015, article - Green Light for Largest Renewables Project in U.K..

With a combined total generation of 4,800 MW, the development could overtake the 3,870-MW, coal-fired Drax station in North Yorkshire as the largest power generator in the U.K. It is also almost equal to all the offshore wind capacity now in operation in the U.K. The four windfarms are being developed by the Forewind consortium, made up of SSE plc (Perth, Scotland), RWE npower Renewables (Swindon, England), Statoil ASA (NYSE:STO) (Stavangar, Norway) and Statkraft AS (Oslo, Norway). Each will cost an estimated $6 billion to develop.

"Thanks to government support, the U.K. is the world leader in offshore wind energy," said Energy and Climate Change Minister Lord Bourne. "As we build the Northern Powerhouse, we want local communities to reap the benefits of investment and green jobs from low-carbon developments, like the Dogger Bank Offshore wind project."

Each of the four 1,200-MW windfarms will have up to 200 turbines installed. They will be located in the Dogger Bank Zone, which lies 125 to 290 kilometers (km) off the coast of East Yorkshire, making them the furthest offshore of any windfarm development.

Forewind General Manager Tarald Gjerde said: "It represents a real opportunity for the U.K. to receive even more of its energy from its abundant wind resources, while creating significant economic benefits, particularly for the northeastern regions. These local regions are well-positioned to take advantage of the many supply chain and employment opportunities, due to both their geographical proximity to the development, as well as their industrial and marine heritage, with existing skills in large-scale production activities and a history of offshore support."

The news was welcomed by the leading U.K. renewable energy body, RenewableUK, which also cautioned that government funding will have to match rhetoric if the windfarms are to be built.

Chief Executive Maria McCaffery said: "This awe-inspiring offshore wind project has taken another significant step forward. The sheer size of Dogger Bank illustrates just how large the environmental and economic opportunities are in the North Sea for the U.K.'s world-leading offshore wind industry. However, the ambition of the industry needs to be matched by a vision from government which is backed up by firm commitments on the levels of financial provision which will be available. We need to know that the political appetite exists to ensure that major infrastructure projects like this will gain the right level of support from Ministers--they hold the keys to unlocking the vast potential of the North Sea's clean energy resources. The industry is set to play its part--but it needs a fair wind from Westminster in order to do so."

With four consented projects now, Forewind has decided not to proceed with the final two: Dogger Bank Teesside C and D, with a combined generating capacity of 2,400 MW.

"These four Dogger Bank projects are a huge commitment and will require significant resources and attention from the owner companies to progress to the next stages," the company said in a statement. "Together, their capacity is almost equal to the total of all the offshore windfarms currently in operation in the U.K. The discontinued phase, known as Dogger Bank Teesside C & D, comprised two projects totaling 2.4 gigawatts (GW). The two projects have been removed from the organization's portfolio and the rights to develop that area of seabed, along with the remainder of the Dogger Bank Zone, have been returned to The Crown Estate."

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