The Dogger Bank Creyke Beck project includes the joint development of two 1.2GW offshore wind farms in the North Sea.
The wind farms, named Dogger Bank Creyke Beck A and B, will be connected to the existing onshore Creyke Beck substation near Cottingham, East Yorkshire, UK. Planning consent was granted by the UK’s Planning Inspectorate in February 2015.
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This forms the first stage in the development of the larger Dogger Bank Zone in the North Sea, which will involve the development of four more wind farms of 1.2GW each by 2020. The investment to develop the first four wind farms is estimated to be in the region of £7bn (approximately $10.5bn).
Located 131km from shore, Beck A covers an area of 515km², whereas Beck B covers 599km². The boundaries for the two wind farms were finalised in 2012.
The project is being developed by Forwind, a consortium formed by RWE Innogy UK, SSE, Statkraft and Statoil in November 2008. It was awarded the licence to develop the Dogger Bank Zone in January 2010, as part of The Crown Estate’s third round for UK offshore wind farms.
Benefits of Dogger Bank Creyke Beck
Dogger Bank will generate 8TWh of renewable energy a year, which is sufficient to power approximately 1.8 million households annually. It is also expected to generate approximately 4,750 direct and indirect jobs over approximately 25 years, and more than £1.7bn (approximately $2.56bn) for the UK economy.
In addition, it will help the UK Government achieve its target of producing 20% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020 and reducing CO₂ emissions by four million tonnes a year.
Dogger Bank Zone location and details
Gwynt y Môr is a 576MW offshore wind farm being built in the Irish Sea, Liverpool Bay.
The Dogger Bank Zone is located between approximately 125km and 290km off the east coast of Yorkshire and covers an area of approximately 8,660km², with water depths ranging from 18m to 63m. It has the potential to produce approximately 13GW, which is equivalent to approximately 10% of the UK’s overall electricity requirements. Once all proposed wind farms in the area are operational by 2020, it will be the biggest offshore wind project in the UK.
Four intensive years of offshore survey works were completed in October 2013, with an investment of £60m (approximately $90m).
Applications for Dogger Bank Teesside A and B, the next two wind farms, were submitted in March 2014 and a decision is expected in August 2015. Dogger Bank Teesside C and D will be developed in the final stage.
Dogger Bank Creyke Beck plant design
The project involves offshore and onshore construction activities. Major offshore facilities will include up to 400 wind turbines and associated support structures, two high-voltage direct current (HVDC) converter platforms, eight collector platforms, ten meteorological monitoring stations and four accommodation/helicopter platforms, all of which are expected to be placed on fixed foundations.
Up to 1,900km of inter-array cables and approximately 640km of inter-platform cables will be installed offshore. The converter platforms will be connected to the landfall site located north of Ulrome, along the Holderness coast, by means of HVDC cables.
The onshore facilities will include 30km of HVDC underground export cables connecting the landfall facility to two proposed converter stations, located between Beverley and Cottingham, where the HVDC will be converted into high-voltage alternating current (HVAC).
In addition, 2km of underground HVAC cables will connect the stations with the substation at Creyke Beck, which is connected to the national grid.
Contractors involved
An environmental impact assessment was conducted by Royal HaskoningDHV, with final survey works performed by Brown & May Marine, Jubilee Fishing Company and Precision Marine Surveys.
Gardline Environmental performed the ornithology and marine mammal surveys and HiDef Aerial Surveying completed aerial bird surveys.
Gardline Geosurvey, in collaboration with the British Geological Survey and Norwegian Geotechnical Institute, undertook geophysical tests. The benthic surveys were conducted by Fugro EMU and Titan Environmental Surveys.
