The world’s largest offshore wind farm under construction, Dogger Bank, has started producing electricity for the first time for British homes and businesses, marking a major milestone in the development of the offshore wind industry and the transition to a cleaner, more secure energy system.
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has hailed this landmark moment, saying Dogger Bank will bolster energy security, create jobs, lower electricity bills and keep us on track for Net Zero.
The 3.6GW Dogger Bank Wind Farm is being constructed in UK waters 70 nautical miles (130km) off the coast of Yorkshire and in three 1.2GW phases known as Dogger Bank A, B and C. Power from the project’s first offshore wind turbine at Dogger Bank A is now being transmitted to the UK’s national grid via Dogger Bank’s high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission system, marking the first-time use of HVDC technology on a UK wind farm.
Initial Situation
Jones Bros. Civil Eng were responsible for the onshore cable and ducting installation. Their main objective was clear, safe and successful installation of the electric cable route to allow connection from the landfall shoreline to the final substation connection.
The challenge was that there was over 95 obstacles that were sitting between the shore line and the connection point. With over 165kms of cable to lay across the rote, careful consideration of installation methods were discussed by the engineering teams.SIMONA Peak were introduced to the early design stages of the pipe route.
SPPS introduced the ClearDuct system which allows for increased install capacity of ducts due to it’s special design. This meant that all 95 crossings could be complete within the project timeframe.
Task
Over 165kms of HDPE C1+ ENA TS 12-24 approved ducting was supplied to site off the north coast of the UK. All ducts were delivered to each of the 40 delivery locations on time to enable efficient welding of the ducts to allow the project to remain on schedule.
100kms of duct was delivered for open trench installation methods with the balance to be installed by HDD methods.
Solution
SIMONA Peak Pipe Systems specifically designed a cost effective solution to uPVC for the open cut sections. Working with the system designers, SPPS were able to produce a SDR15 (non standard) wall thickness which delivered a cost reduction in material but ensured the performance of the pipe was suitable as per the ENA TS 12-24 specification for deflection calculation.
ClearDuct SDR11 C1+ was utilized for the HDD crossings which guaranteed optimum performance and high tensile strength to withstand the harsh geology in this project location.
ClearDuct accelerated the delivery of the project by over 3 months which was the first of it’s kind on a project of the scale.
DoggerBank to this date remains the largest offshore windfarm in the world with further expansion phases due 2026. SPPS were proud to be a part of such a milestone achievement for the UK Government on their Nett Zero journey.
