The world’s largest offshore wind farm welcomes Jan De Nul’s Voltaire to the project
The world’s largest offshore wind farm, Dogger Bank Wind Farms, welcomes Jan De Nul’s Voltaire to the project, the company said in its release. The new offshore jack-up installation vessel, with a lifting capacity of over 3,000 tonnes and standing taller than the Eiffel tower, is the largest of its kind in the world. The Voltaire will transport and install the world’s largest offshore wind turbines, GE’s Haliade-X, at Dogger Bank, which sits 130km off the Yorkshire coast. When complete, Dogger Bank will generate enough energy to power over 4.5 million homes every year – around 5% of the UK’s electricity needs.
The announcement today marks the first contract placed for Voltaire, which will enter in to service in 2022. The vessel, named after the pioneering European Enlightenment philosopher, is fitted with a highly advanced exhaust filtering system by means of a Selective Catalytic Reduction system and a Diesel Particulate Filter, making it the very first seagoing installation vessel of its kind to be an Ultra-Low Emission vessel.
Dogger Bank Wind Farms secured 3.6GW of offshore wind contracts in the UK Government’s recent contracts for difference auctions.
Record low prices were awarded for the three projects making up Dogger Bank Wind Farms: Creyke Beck A, Creyke Beck B and Teesside A. The project is now moving towards final investment decision, expected in 2020. SSE Renewables will lead the development and construction phases of Dogger Bank Wind Farms and Equinor will lead on operations.
Each project will have an installed capacity of 1.2GW and will be able to power 1.5 million homes. Together, the projects can cover approximately 5% of the UK’s estimated electricity generation.
The first project is expected to be operational in 2023.
The WTGs will be installed on monopile foundations.
The transmission system will be High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) due to long distance to grid connection point.
The Contract for Difference is a 15-year contract which will be indexed for inflation. The strike price will be paid for every MWh generated by the wind farms during the contract. After the CfD contract ends, the projects will receive the market price for electricity.
About SSE Renewables
SSE Renewables is the leading renewable energy company across the UK and Ireland, with a portfolio of around 4GW of onshore wind, offshore wind and hydro. Part of the FTSE-listed SSE plc, its strategy is to drive the transition to a zero-carbon future through the world class development, construction and operation of renewable energy assets.
SSE Renewables owns nearly 2GW of onshore wind capacity with over 1GW under development. Its 1,450MW hydro portfolio includes 300MW of pumped storage and 750MW of flexible hydro. Its offshore wind portfolio consists of 580MW across three offshore sites, two of which it operates on behalf of its joint venture partners. SSE Renewables has the largest offshore wind development pipeline in the UK and Ireland at over 7GW.
About Equinor
Equinor is developing as a broad energy company, building a material position in renewable energy. Equinor now powers more than one million European homes with renewable offshore wind from four offshore wind farms in the United Kingdom and Germany. Equinor is building material offshore wind clusters in the UK, the US North East and in the Baltics. The company commissioned the world’s first floating offshore wind farm in 2017 off the coast of Scotland and is positioned for future floating wind options in several geographies, including UK, Norway and Asia.
