ABB to Connect World’s Largest Offshore Wind Project to UK Grid

ABB has been selected to connect the world’s largest offshore wind farms in the Dogger Bank region to the UK transmission network.

ABB has been selected by UK-based SSE Renewables and Norwegian firm Equinor to supply its high-voltage direct current (HVDC) Light converter systems to connect the world’s largest offshore wind farms in the Dogger Bank region of the North Sea to the UK transmission network.

In the first-ever use of the HVDC technology in the UK’s offshore wind market, ABB will supply technology with one of the smallest environmental footprints, due to the most compact station design combined with the lowest energy losses in the power industry. ABB will supply the HVDC Light converter systems, while Aibel will deliver two HVDC offshore converter platforms. In 2016, ABB and Aibel announced their partnership on the design, engineering and optimisation of offshore wind connections.

Claudio Facchin, president of ABB’s Power Grids business said that winning the contracts from SSE Renewables and Equinor for the landmark Dogger Bank project underscores ABB’s innovative offshore wind technology and expertise and that it also highlights the success of ABB Power Grids’ customer partnerships, both on design optimisation as well as on the business model level.

“ABB is committed to delivering sustainable solutions with pioneering technologies and in the Dogger Bank project we are helping to make offshore wind competitive and thus contributing to a stronger, smarter and greener grid.”

Paul Cooley, director of Capital Projects at SSE Renewables, said that the Dogger Bank is truly a world-leading project, pushing new boundaries in the provision of ground-breaking technology to deliver low-carbon energy generation to help achieve the UK’s net-zero ambition by 2050. “The appointment of Aibel and ABB as project partners will ensure that the latest grid solution technology is deployed to support our successful project delivery.”

The Dogger Bank development consists of three wind farm projects – Creyke Beck A and B, and Teesside A. It will significantly contribute towards the UK government’s goals of sourcing up to a third of its electricity from offshore wind by 2030. ABB has been awarded contracts for Creyke Beck A and Creyke Beck B.