Firms behind world's largest offshore wind farm in North Sea hail 'important milestone'

The companies behind what will be the largest offshore wind farm in the world have hailed another “important milestone” for the vast project.

SSE Renewables and Equinor, the joint venture partners co-developing the Dogger Bank Wind Farm in the North Sea, said 15-year power purchase agreements (PPAs) have now been signed for the third phase of the scheme.

Due to its size and scale, Dogger Bank is being built in three consecutive 1.2 gigawatt phases. When completed, the wind farm will have the capacity to power some six million UK homes.

The deals to buy the power generated by the third phase of the wind farm follow the conclusion of a competitive bidding process.

Located off the north east coast of England, Dogger Bank Wind Farm is being built in three phases and will be the largest offshore wind farm in the world when operational, with an overall capacity of some 3.6 gigawatts.

Steve Wilson, Dogger Bank Wind Farm’s project director at SSE Renewables, part of Scottish energy giant SSE, said: “Today we’re celebrating yet another important milestone in the delivery of the world’s largest offshore wind farm. Concluding offtake power purchase agreements with some of the leading energy trading companies for Dogger Bank C means we are well on track to reach financial close for the third phase of Dogger Bank Wind Farm by the end of the year.

“I’m particularly pleased the agreements being announced today see existing project offtake partnerships being extended across all three phases of the wind farm as well as a new project offtake relationship being forged.

“Working together daily with our offtake partners we’ll bring new green energy from the world’s largest offshore wind farm to the National Grid so that we’re powering change for a net zero future for millions of UK customers.”

Halfdan Brustad, vice president for Dogger Bank at Equinor, said: “Securing offtake agreements for Dogger Bank C is very exciting as it brings us one step closer to financial close for the third phase of the project.

“Following close behind Dogger Bank A and B, development of Dogger Bank C is progressing well and we hope to be able to reach financial close by the end of this year. With this, we will really start to see the magnitude of this world-leading offshore wind farm, and the benefits that a project of this size can bring both to the UK, and wider offshore wind industry.”

The news comes just a week after Perth-headquartered SSE outlined plans to invest a bumper £12.5 billion over the next five years as it looks to accelerate its net zero plans.

The firm said the move makes it the biggest constructor of offshore wind in the world and will increase the amount of renewable energy produced by four gigawatts (GW) over the period.

SSE’s plans will see the group deliver a quarter of the UK's 40GW offshore wind target by 2030 and more than a fifth of the UK's electricity networks investment.

Its increased spend on new energy generation is 65 per cent higher than previous commitments, with the company saying it intends to take advantage of the UK government's new super-deduction tax plans laid out earlier this year by Chancellor Rishi Sunak.

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