GE Selected for 3.6 GW Dogger Bank Offshore Wind Project

Dogger Bank Wind Farms, which will become the world’s largest offshore wind farm when built, has unveiled GE as its preferred turbine supplier.

Dogger Bank Wind Farms, which is developing what will become the world’s largest offshore wind farm when built, has unveiled GE Renewable Energy as its preferred turbine supplier.

Under the new deal, GE Renewable Energy will supply the project with its next generation of offshore technology, the Haliade-X turbines, bringing the world’s most powerful wind turbine to the world’s largest wind farm. The final number of turbines to be installed at Dogger Bank will be confirmed in due course.

Dogger Bank Wind Farms is a 50:50 joint venture between Equinor and SSE Renewables. The overall wind farm comprises three 1.2 GW projects located in the North Sea, approximately 130 km from the UK’s Yorkshire Coast. The projects were recently successful in the latest Contracts for Difference (CfDs) Allocation Round, the UK Government’s auction for renewable power.

SSE Renewables will lead the development and construction phases of Dogger Bank and Equinor will lead on operations once completed.

Paul Cooley, director of Capital Projects at SSE Renewables, said that the joint Equinor and SSE Renewables project team on Dogger Bank is excited to work with GE Renewable Energy to introduce the next generation of offshore wind turbine to the UK, and to be the first European wind farm to install and operate these innovative turbines.

“Dogger Bank will now be home to the largest offshore wind turbines in the world and to this pioneering low carbon technology, which will play a central role in helping the UK become carbon neutral by 2050,” he said.

The projects will have a combined capacity of up to 3.6 GW, making it the largest wind farm in the world. It will be able to provide enough clean, low-carbon energy to power over 4.5 million homes annually, equivalent to around 5 percent of the UK’s estimated electricity generation. The projects are expected to trigger approximately GBP 9 billion of capital investment between 2020 and 2026 into much needed low carbon infrastructure and delivering substantial economic benefits to the UK.

The projects will now progress towards a financial investment decision by the end of 2020 with onshore construction expected to commence in early 2020, and the first energy generation is expected in 2023.