‘Kick Off for Foundation Installs at Dogger Bank B’

Foundation installation work has officially kicked off for the second phase of the Dogger Bank offshore wind farm project in the U.K. North Sea, which is set to become the world’s largest offshore wind farm.

Seaway7’s vessels, Seaway Strashnov and Seaway Alfa Lift, have begun installing monopile foundations and transition pieces for the Dogger Bank B phase. The completion of all 95 transition pieces on Dogger Bank A marked the end of the foundation installation for the first phase of the project.

Olly Cass, Dogger Bank Wind Farm Project Director, highlighted the importance of these installation milestones, emphasizing the years of dedication and innovation put forth by the project team and delivery partners. The wind farm’s size and new turbine technology have necessitated creative design and engineering solutions that are expected to influence the future construction of offshore wind projects globally.

Wouter van Dalen, Project Director at Seaway7, expressed satisfaction with the progress, noting the strong collaboration with the client and subcontractors. The foundation installation is well underway, with the monopiles and transition pieces serving as the base for GE Vernova’s 13MW Haliade-X turbines.

The monopiles, weighing up to 1,424 tonnes each and reaching lengths of 72.8 meters, were manufactured by Sif and Smulders and are being installed by Seaway7 80 miles off the Yorkshire coast. This milestone comes after the successful installation of the offshore HVDC platform for the wind farm’s second phase in April.

A total of 277 monopiles and transition pieces will be installed across all three phases of the project, with an expected completion date of 2026. Companies like Tata Steel, Metec, and Granada Material Handling are among those involved in supporting the project through manufacturing and processing key components.

Dogger Bank Wind Farm, jointly developed by SSE Renewables, Equinor, and Vårgrønn, will feature 277 wind turbines generating 3.6GW of offshore renewable energy, enough to power 6 million UK households annually. SSE Renewables will oversee construction, with Equinor set to operate the wind farm for its planned 35-year operational lifespan from the Port of Tyne in the North East of England.

With a focus on tackling challenging wave loads in the North Sea, the foundations of Dogger Bank Wind Farm have been optimized by experts from Wood Thilsted, ensuring safe installation and operation in depths of up to 32m and a minimum distance of 130km from shore.