Dogger Bank – which will become the world’s largest offshore wind farm – has powered up for the first time.
Marking a “major milestone” in the development of the offshore wind industry and the shift to a cleaner, more secure energy system, the first GE Vernova Haliade 13MW turbine has started turning and producing electricity at Dogger Bank A. The 3.6GW project is being constructed in three 1.2GW phases – A, B and C. This power from the turbine has also been transmitted to the grid through Dogger Bank’s high voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission system, with this marking the first time that HVDC technology has actually been used on a wind farm in the UK.
Each rotation of the 107m long blades on the turbine can produce enough clean energy to power an average British home for two days. A total of 277 will be in place once the project is complete, meaning enough power for the equivalent of 6mn homes, delivering yearly CO2 savings equivalent to removing 1.5mn cars from the road.
SSE Chief Executive, Alistair Phillips-Davies, 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. Now, of course, the challenge is to accelerate the next wave of these projects and we look forward to working with governments to bring these forward as soon as possible.”
