INDUSTRY ARTICLE Dogger Bank
Our regular readers may remember our comprehensive coverage of this exciting mammoth wind energy project in the October/November 2012 edition – the one with the Black-Backed Gulls on the cover.
ThE FoLLowIng ArTICLE IS AN UPDATE ON PROGRESS So FAr AnD wE wILL BE CONTINUING
the project moves on
It represents an enormous effort by not only the Forewind team, but with significant input from more than 100 suppliers, consultants and service providers assisting on all aspects of the application.
DOGGER BANK ZONE DEVELOPS IN STAGES
Forewind General Manager Lee Clarke provides an update on the progress of the world’s largest offshore wind development at Dogger Bank
It was January 2010 when Forewind, a consortium comprising four leading international energy companies – RWE, SSE, Statkraft and Statoil – started developing the world’s largest offshore wind energy project at Dogger Bank, 125 kilometres off the UK coast.
Late September 2013 marked the culmination of years of surveys and research work, reporting and stakeholder engagement activity when the Planning Inspectorate accepted Forewind’s development consent order application for the first stage of offshore wind energy development on the Dogger Bank Zone.
The organisation aims to achieve consent for three stages of development, each stage with two up to 1.2 gigawatt (GW) offshore wind farm projects. Together these six wind farm projects would have an installed capacity of 7.2GW.
FIRST STAGE
The first stage, Dogger Bank Creyke Beck, comprising two offshore wind farms with a total installed capacity of up to 2.4 gigawatts (GW) is now in its pre-examination phase that will be followed by a formal examination process, together these should take around 10 months. A recommendation will then go to the Secretary of State to make the final consent decision.
In total Dogger Bank Creyke Beck would be able to generate around eight terawatt hours (TWh) of green electricity per annum, which is almost enough to power all the homes in the Yorkshire and Humber region every year.
By the end of 2014, Forewind hopes to have its first consent, and two other consent applications in the examination pipeline.
REACHING APPLICATION STAGE Forewind’s development consent order application for Dogger Bank Creyke Beck runs to more than 25 volumes and includes the Environmental Statement, Habitats Regulations Assessment Report, Application Plans, Consultation Report and Appendices.
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www.windenergynetwork.co.uk
In reaching the point where all the survey requirements for not only Dogger Bank Creyke Beck, but also the first three stages of development have been completed, Forewind has carried out the most extensive and thorough study of the Dogger Bank area ever undertaken. This work has included a huge range of offshore geotechnical, geophysical and fish ecology surveys to understand and characterise the seabed and marine conditions of the zone as part of its environmental impact assessment work.
UK COMPANIES
The majority of the contracts have gone to UK companies including Hull- based Precision Marine Survey Limited, Suffolk’s Brown & May Marine Limited, Geotech Limited and the Gardline group of companies based in Norfolk, RPS Group, which has locations UK-wide, and Fugro EMU Limited, a UK firm based in Southampton.
It has also included the most intensive offshore bird and marine mammal examination of the area with both boat- based and aerial surveys.
Carried out by environmental specialists from Gardline Environmental and HiDef Aerial Surveying, the extensive surveys were commissioned to enable Forewind to gather vital information about the species and numbers of bird and marine mammal species, their distributions and seasonal variations across the 8660km2 zone. The information will be used to help Forewind plan the layout and design of the offshore wind development proposed for Dogger Bank.
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