GE to deliver world’s biggest wind turbines for huge UK Dogger Bank project

GE Renewable Energy, the renewable energy and wind turbine manufacturing arm of the American multinational GE, will deliver its 12MW Haliade-X wind turbines – the world’s biggest – for the Dogger Bank wind farms that recently set record low prices for offshore wind.

A 50:50 joint venture between Equinor and SSE Renewables, the Dogger Bank Wind Farms comprise three 1.2 GW offshore wind projects located about 130kms from the UK’s Yorkshire Coast, atop Dogger Bank, a large sandbank in an already shallow area of the North Sea.

The three Dogger Bank projects were each recently successful in the UK’s latest Contracts for Difference (CfD) Allocation Round – of which one received a record low strike price of £39.65/MWh ($A72.55) and the other two a similarly low strike price of £41.611/MWh ($A76.13).

That compares to the £92.50 ($A170/MWh) for the Hinkley nuclear facility, which will rise to at least £110/MWh ($A201/MWh by the time it commences production in 2025.

Unsurprisingly, Equinor and SSE Renewables have chosen to name GE Renewable Energy as their preferred wind turbine supplier for all three projects and to prioritise the ground-breaking 12 MW Haliade-X turbine – the world’s largest and most powerful turbine.

Confirmation of the Haliade-X being installed at Dogger Bank will now wait on Final Investment Decision for the projects – which is expected by the end of next year, with a potential for first power generation in 2023. Onshore works are currently being prepared and are expected to begin in early 2020.

If all goes ahead as planned, the three Dogger Bank projects – which, together, amount to the world’s largest offshore wind farm – would require a total of 300 Haliade-X turbines.

“We are very excited to announce this agreement as it gives us the opportunity to bring the world’s most powerful offshore wind turbine to the world’s largest offshore wind market,” said John Lavelle, President and CEO, Offshore Wind, GE Renewable Energy.

“We have an important role to play in the UK’s offshore wind ambitions and in delivering further carbon emission reductions. Our Haliade-X technology is helping our customers to make offshore wind a more competitive source of clean and renewable energy by reducing the levelized cost of energy (LCOE).”

SSE Renewables is set to lead development and construction of each of the Dogger Bank wind farms while Equinor will lead on operations upon completion.

“The joint Equinor and SSE Renewables project team on Dogger Bank is excited to work with GE Renewable Energy to introduce the next generation of offshore wind turbine to the UK, and to be the first European wind farm to install and operate these innovative turbines,” said Paul Cooley, Director of Capital Projects at SSE Renewables .

“Dogger Bank will now be home to the largest offshore wind turbines in the world and to this pioneering low carbon technology, which will play a central role in helping the UK become carbon neutral by 2050.”

“Our success in the CfD auction was due in large part to the relationships we have built with our supply chain, which enabled the lowest ever strike prices,” added Dogger Bank Wind Farms Project Director, Bjørn Ivar Bergemo.

“The Haliade-X represents a step change in turbine technology, and we look forward to working with GE Renewable Energy to maximise innovation and supply chain benefits for the UK.”