Italy's Eni S.p.A. to purchase 20% stake in World Largest Offshore Wind Farm

Dogger Bank wind farm is located near Ulrome, Yorkshire in the North Sea, England. It is expected to be the world's largest offshore wind farm once completed, making it three times larger than the current largest wind farm that is the Hornsea wind farm, which is also near the North Sea coast, England.

On December 4th, 2020, Dogger Bank wind farm announces that Eni S.p.A. will the new partner for Phases A and B. The joint venture of SSE (Scottish and Southern Energy) and Equinor ASA will have 40 percent of shares in each of the first two phases.

Subject to regulatory and lender approvals, Eni will enter a joint venture with a 20% interest in Dogger Bank A and B, equal to 480 MW over these two phases when the deal is completed at the beginning of 2021.

SSE Renewable will be responsible for the construction of the project. The wind farm will be constructed in three phases comprising three farms: Creyke Beck A, Creyke Beck B, and Teesside A, each having a 1.2 GW of capacity. The Dogger Bank wind farm project is having a capital investment of approximately GBP 9bn. Together, the three wind farms will have a 3.6 GW capacity, claiming 5% of the country's total electricity.

In January 2020, the onshore construction work has begun, and the offshore construction work will probably commence in 2021. The first phase (Dogger Bank A) of the project is expected to be completed by 2023. The overall project is expected to be operational by 2026.

The GE Renewable Energy will provide the Haliade-X turbines to the offshore wind farm for both phase A and phase B. Each Haliade-X turbine is 260m tall with a 220m-diameter rotor and 107m-long blades, and a total of 190 turbines to be installed in the Dogger Bank wind farm A and B, which comes with a service and warranty program for five years. Each of the turbines will be having the capacity to generate 67 GWh annually, which is enough to supply almost 16,000 European households.

The transmission of the electricity from both Creyke Beck A and Creyke Beck B wind farms will be done via subsea export cables to the two onshore converter stations, which will be built to the north of A1079 road on an 11ha-site with each subsea export cable measuring 172km to 191km in length taking its place on the mainland of Holderness Coast near Ulrome. Through the 30km of underground cables, the electricity is transmitted to the converter stations, where the direct current (DC) is converted into an alternative current (AC). However, there is a different route to transmit power from Teesside A to the onshore converter station at the Teesside.

Equinor's executive vice president of New Energy Solutions said, "Reaching financial close on the two first phases of Dogger Bank is a major milestone, demonstrating our commitment to profitable growth within offshore wind. The extensive interest from lenders underpins the attractiveness of UK offshore wind assets and confidence in SSE and Equinor. As the wind farm's future operator, we are proud to take this big step forward in delivering what will be the backbone of a growing wind hub in the North Sea."

SSE Chief Executive Alistar Philips – Davies said, "Achieving financial close for the first two phases of the world's largest wind farm is a huge accomplishment and, alongside reaching Seagreen 1 financial close earlier this year, represents significant progress towards achieving our goal of trebling our renewable output by 2030."

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