At 260 metres the turbines are nearly three times as tall as Big Ben
Alex Lawson
Mon, 9 October 2023
The first turbine to be completed in a project to build the world’s largest offshore windfarm, in the North Sea, has begun powering British homes and businesses.
Developers confirmed on Monday that Dogger Bank, which sits 70 nautical miles off the coast of Yorkshire, started producing power over the weekend as the first of 277 turbines was connected to the electricity grid.
The project, jointly developed by Britain’s SSE and Norway’s Equinor and Vårgrønn, will produce 3.6 gigawatts of power, enough for 6m homes a year, when it is completed in 2026.
Rishi Sunak said the project was “critical to generating renewable, efficient energy that can power British homes from British seas”.
The prime minister’s endorsement comes weeks after he drew heavy criticism from green campaigners for rowing back on net zero policies as he seeks to make the energy transition a key political battleground.
The government was also condemned last month when a disastrous energy auction saw no new offshore windfarms secure contracts despite there being the potential for 5GW of projects – enough to power 8m homes a year.
Keir Starmer, who will address the Labour party conference in Liverpool on Tuesday, has said Sunak’s lack of investment in wind power is a “gift to Putin, who has strangled the international gas market we are hooked to”.
The cost of material, labour and finance have risen sharply for windfarm developers over the past year. Earlier this year, the Swedish energy company Vattenfall said it would cease working on the multibillion-pound Norfolk Boreas windfarm because rising costs meant it was no longer profitable.
Sunak said the £9bn Dogger Bank development would “not only bolster our energy security but create jobs, lower electricity bills and keep us on track for net zero”.
Alistair Phillips-Davies, the chief executive of SSE, said: “There’s been lots of talk about the need to build homegrown energy supplies, but we are taking action on a massive scale.”
The developers said each rotation of the 107-metre-long blades on Dogger Bank’s first turbine could produce enough energy to power an average British home for two days.
Last year, SSE switched on another huge wind project – Scotland’s largest offshore windfarm, Seagreen.
The surge in gas and electricity bills over the past two years, in part linked to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, has thrown the spotlight on Britain’s domestic energy system.
The government has set a target to decarbonise the UK electricity system by 2035, while Labour has pledged to achieve the same feat by 2030. However, they face a considerable task to achieve those targets in a market currently reliant on fossil fuel power generation.
Largest wind farm in the world starts supplying power to Britain
Jonathan Leake
Tue, 10 October 2023
Dogger Bank turbin
The world’s largest offshore wind farm has started supplying power to Britain’s energy grid after it generated electricity for the first time.
Turbines started turning at the Dogger Bank wind farm on Saturday, with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak hailing the project as crucial to Britain’s net zero future.
When complete, Dogger Bank will consist of 277 giant offshore turbines that generate enough electricity to power six million homes a year.
Energy giant SSE confirmed production from the first installed turbine on Tuesday.
Mr Sunak said: “Offshore wind is critical to generating renewable, efficient energy that can power British homes from British seas.
“I’m proud that this country is already a world leader in reaching net zero by 2050, and by doubling down on the new green industries of the future, we’ll get there in a way that’s both pragmatic and ambitious.”
The UK’s offshore wind farms have expanded rapidly in recent years and currently have a capacity of about 14 gigawatts (GW).
The Government has pledged to expand this to 50GW by 2030, meaning the UK needs to install at least one wind turbine every day for the next seven years.
Dogger Bank is located 75 miles off the coast of Yorkshire and is being completed in three phases.
The power it generates is channeled into the UK’s national grid via Dogger Bank’s high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission system.
When fully complete, Dogger Bank’s 3.6GW capacity will match that of Sizewell B nuclear power station – although the power it produces will vary with the prevailing wind.
Dogger Bank is being developed and built by the UK’s SSE Renewables in a joint venture with Norway’s Equinor and Vårgrønn. It is powered by the largest-ever wind turbines, which are made by GE Vernova.
Anders Opedal, Equinor chief executive, said: “A renewable mega-project like Dogger Bank constitutes an industrial wind hub in the heart of the North Sea, playing a major role in the UK’s ambitions for offshore wind and supporting its net zero ambitions.”
Olav Hetland, boss of Vårgrønn, said: “Dogger Bank’s first power milestone demonstrates that offshore wind is ready to power Europe’s energy transition.
“The project has contributed to building industry and creating local jobs and will continue to do so over several decades. Looking ahead, we expect the Northeast of England to hold a central place in Europe’s offshore wind future.”
Alistair Phillips-Davies, chief executive of SSE, said: “The innovations this pioneering project has developed will also mean future developments can be built faster and more efficiently, accelerating the clean energy transition.
“The challenge now is to accelerate the next wave of projects and we look forward to working with governments to bring these forward as soon as possible.”
World’s largest wind farm starts production off Yorkshire coast
August Graham, PA Business Reporter
Tue, 10 October 2023
The world’s largest offshore wind farm has started feeding power into the British grid for the first time as turbines started spinning at the site.
The first turbines on the Dogger Bank wind farm, which is still under construction, produced their first electricity.
Although far from complete, if Dogger Bank’s 277 wind turbines were producing at maximum capacity at midday on Tuesday, it would have been able to produce around 10% of all the electricity being used at that point.
Its 3.6 gigawatts of capacity makes it the largest offshore wind farm in the world and it also has the largest number of turbines of any offshore wind farm.
The turbines that are installed at the site — around 130 kilometres off the coast of Yorkshire — have 107-metre long blades, and one single rotation of those blades produces enough electricity to power two homes all day.
At 260 metres the turbines are nearly three times as tall as the Clock Tower in Westminster, commonly called Big Ben after one of its bells.
When operational, the full wind farm will be able to power the equivalent of six million homes per year.
It will produce this electricity at between £39.65 and £41.61 per megawatt hour, in 2012 prices. At the time of writing the price of a megawatt hour of electricity in Great Britain was considerably higher, at £117 per MWh.
It is being developed and built by SSE Renewables, Norway’s Equinor and Vargronn.
“Dogger Bank will provide a significant boost to UK energy security, affordability and leadership in tackling climate change. This is exactly how we should be responding to the energy crisis,” said SSE chief executive Alistair Phillips-Davies.
“But it is also a landmark moment for the global offshore wind industry, with Dogger Bank demonstrating just what can be achieved when policymakers, investors, industry and communities work together to achieve something truly remarkable.”
John Twomey, director of customer connections for National Grid, said: “Dogger Bank’s first power is a momentous engineering achievement and marks another milestone in Britain’s clean energy transition.
“It’s a particularly proud moment for our connections and asset operations teams, whose work reinforcing our Creyke Beck substation to connect the wind farm’s green power to our network is a key part of this project’s success story.”
No comments:
Post a Comment