Dogger Bank wind farm will occupy an area almost as large as Greater London and have an installed capacity of 3.6GW of electricity.
SSE Renewables is erecting 277 turbines that each stand 260 metres high and blades that are 107 metres long.
They are being installed 80 miles off the coast of Yorkshire using the largest offshore jack-up barge, Jan de Nul’s Voltaire.
Work to install the first turbine began at the weekend, operating out of a base in Hartlepool.
Start of the campaign to install GE Renewable Energy's 13MW Haliade-X turbines is a milestone for the project, which is being developed and built by UK developer SSE Renewables in joint venture with Norway’s Equinor and Vårgrønn (a joint venture of Eni Plenitude and Hitec Vision).
SSE Renewables is lead operator for the development and construction of Dogger Bank wind farm. Equinor will be lead operator of the wind farm on completion for its expected operational life of around 35 years. Vårgrønn brings specialist offshore wind expertise to the project.
SSE chief executive Alistair Phillips-Davies said: “Dogger Bank is one of the biggest and most complex engineering and infrastructure projects anywhere in the world. Our progress here with our joint venture partners Equinor and Vårgrønn proves that offshore wind projects of this size are now mainstream and will help turbocharge the transition to the cheaper, cleaner and more secure energy system we all want to see.
“It is action, not ambition, that will secure our energy future and this project shows action on a massive scale. But we will need many more Dogger Banks to achieve our goals and we look forward to working with government to bring forward more projects at pace.”
Vårgrønn chief executive Olav Hetland said: “Dogger Bank shows that extensive collaboration is key to developing offshore wind farms that provide power at scale while driving innovation. Getting to this milestone has relied on the efforts of a huge number of local and international suppliers, and together we have now moved the boundaries of what is possible in offshore wind.
“Dogger Bank now cements the North Sea’s new role as Europe’s renewable power plant and as the home to a world-leading offshore wind supply chain.”
Jan Van Impe, manager of Jan De Nul Offshore Renewables, added: “Our Voltaire is more than a match for the scale and characteristics of the offshore Dogger Bank turbines which offer the perfect challenge for this next generation state-of-the art jack-up installation vessel.”
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