DoggerBank Off-Shore Windfarm – The Worlds Largest Off Shore Windfarm!
Project Overview
Jones Bros Civil Engineering has successfully installed 177km of onshore HVDC cables for the 3.6GW Dogger Bank Wind Farm utilizing the cable protection technology of ClearDuct manufactured and supplied by SIMONA Peak Pipe Systems Ltd.
The Dogger Bank Wind Farm, being built in the North Sea more than 130km from the Yorkshire coast, will be capable of powering 6 million UK homes annually on completion.
The electricity generated by the Dogger Bank A and B wind turbines will come ashore south of Bridlington at Ulrome in East Riding, and be transmitted via underground HVDC cables to the onshore convertor station site in East Riding.
The Dogger Bank project is the first offshore wind farm in the UK to use HVDC technology, which allows electricity to be transmitted efficiently across long distances.
The HVDC cable route ends at the convertor station site near Beverley, where two convertor stations are currently under construction. Here, the electricity will be converted from HVDC to HVAC current for transmission to homes and businesses via the UK grid network.
Dogger Bank Wind Farm is an offshore wind farm being developed in three phases – Dogger Bank A, B and C – located between 130km and 190km from the North East coast of England at their nearest points.
Collectively they will become the world’s largest offshore wind farm.
Each phase will have an installed generation capacity of 1.2GW and represents a multi-billion pound investment. Combined, they will have an installed capacity of 3.6GW and will be capable of powering up to 6 million homes annually.
ClearDuct Technology
SIMONA Peak Pipe Systems developed the ClearDuct technology with DONG energy (Now Orsted) in 2016 when a problem was identified with internal debeading issues on standard HDPE electric ducting. DONG Energy raised concerns around the process of internal debeading and it not being a consistently repeatable process. If done incorrectly this would leave potential snagging points that could damage the electric cable during the cable installation process. If cables damage during this process they will fail during commissioning meaning a considerable replacement process costing tens of thousands of pounds to rectify.
ClearDuct pipe is a protected machined pipe end profile which means when jointed by butt fusion, the weld bead is contained within the pipe wall and does not intrude on the internal surface of the joint. Removing the requirement of internally debeading, guaranteeing 100% clear bore throughout the pipe string. This gives cable manufacturers and cable installers confidence that the product will be installed without fail.
SIMONA Peak also developed specific welding parameters which reduce the length of time it takes to weld the pipes together by over 40% compared to standard WIS 4-32-08 standards. This had a dramatic impact on the achievable pipe welds per day. Accelerating the welding process by over 2 months over the entire project duration.
The DoggerBank project was the first of it’s kind, utilizing HDPE ClearDuct pipe for the HDD crossings and all connecting pipe routes. Traditionally PVC pipes are used for the non-HDD sections. Jones Bros. wanted a fully welding system benefiting from the ClearDuct technology which would result in more consistent heat transfer calculations along the entire cable route, while offering a clean and secure pipeline which will withstand the test of time without having to maintain and clean.
ClearDuct Supply
101,595m 250mm SDR15 ClearDuct x 15m lengths
10,800m 315mm SDR15 ClearDuct x 12m lengths
21,803m 250mm SDR11 ClearDuct x 13.5m lengths
7,164m 315mm SDR11 ClearDuct x 12m lengths
80,400m 63mm SDR11 x 300m C1+ coils
3,400m 180mm SDR11 x 100m C1+ coils
Total tons of HDPE supplied – 2,079 tons
112,767m of pipe installed via horizontal directional drilling
112,395m of pipe installed via open trench methods
A joint venture partnership
The Dogger Bank offshore wind farm is a joint venture partnership between SSE Renewables (40%), Equinor (40%) and Vårgrønn (20%).
SSE Renewables is leading on the development and construction of Dogger Bank Wind Farm, and Equinor will operate the wind farm on completion and during its expected operational life of around 35 years.
Key Project Milestones
In September 2022, the safe installation of around 73 miles (c. 117.5km) of underground cable was completed
• Almost 73 miles of onshore HVDC cable weighing 3,500 tonnes installed in East Riding of Yorkshire
• Cable installation was carried out by North Wales-based Jones Bros Civil Engineering and supported by Bristol-based Powersystems UK and North Yorkshire cable specialists FB Taylor
• Initial ground preparation and drilling works supported by Essex-based Joseph Gallagher Group
• Cable work integral to future transmission of renewable energy from the world’s largest offshore wind farm to UK homes and businesses
• All cables were installed within SIMONA Peak Pipe Systems ClearDuct C1+ ENA TS 12-24 electrical cable ducting.
The team building Dogger Bank Wind Farm has safely installed almost 73 miles of HVDC underground cables in East Riding of Yorkshire in another giant milestone for the world-leading project.
Onshore construction for the first two phases of Dogger Bank Wind Farm began in January 2020 when Jones Bros Civil Engineering broke ground near the village of Ulrome in East Riding of Yorkshire.
The North Wales civil engineering specialists have installed almost 73 miles of HVDC cables in East Riding, with support from Bristol-based Powersystems UK and North Yorkshire cable installation specialists F B Taylor.
Jones Bros commenced installation of the cable ducting system in spring 2020, with the support of Essex-based Joseph Gallagher undertaking a series of horizontal directional drills in preparation for cable installation works to begin last summer.
This latest milestone marks the completion of HVDC cable installation work in East Riding, with the team now focusing on the installation of around four miles of HVAC cable from its convertor station site near Beverley, to the Creyke Beck electricity sub-station near Cottingham.
Onshore project manager for Dogger Bank Wind Farm, Oliver Flattery, said:
“The whole team has worked incredibly hard and diligently since the start of 2020 to safely and efficiently prepare the 30km route, through a combination of trenching and drilling methods, before installing ClearDuct protective ducts and then feeding 3,362 tonnes of underground cables through these ducts.”
“This has been a huge undertaking, and one we’re all proud to have been part of.
Jones Bros project manager James Lockwood said:
“Hitting this key milestone on the world’s largest offshore wind farm has been made possible thanks to the efforts of every individual on site.
“I know it brings everyone from senior managers to trainees and apprentices a great sense of pride to be associated with this project, and we’re excited to see how the rest of the scheme develops.”
Nigel Baldwin, Health and Safety Director for F B Taylor, said:
“Working on the largest offshore wind farm has been a humbling experience for all involved and something that we are immensely proud of. We would like to thank the full site team for their work ethic and support during this project and hope to be involved with many more offshore opportunities throughout the coming years”.
Jonathan Stock, Head of Projects for Powersystems UK, said:
“We are very pleased to announce the completion of the HVDC cable installation at Dogger Bank Wind Farm, the world’s largest offshore windfarm. This is a huge achievement for all involved and particularly the efforts of the Powersystems UK team, our supply chain partners FB Taylors and Collett Transport and partners Jones Bros.
“The team showed great pride, professionalism, proactiveness, partnership and priority towards health, safety, environment, and quality.”
Tony Matheson, Director at Joseph Gallagher Limited, said:
“This has been a fantastic project to work on over the past two years. Our team have been instrumental throughout, operating four horizontal directional drilling rigs simultaneously during peak times, installing an impressive 27km of duct in 140 drills – ranging from 50m to 620m and then returning to grout the cables after the install.
“It’s been a true collaborative effort working with Jones Bros throughout the project. The team’s work ethic shone through helping to deliver the project to programme and with safety at the forefront – something we are very proud to have been part of.”
Offshore construction work on the first two phases of the project began in April with the start of work to install sub-sea HVDC cables off the Yorkshire coast. And in July the project celebrated the successful installation of the first foundation in the North Sea. Next year the team will install the first turbine on Dogger Bank A, with a total 277 GE Renewable Energy Haliade-X turbines set to be installed on all three phases of the project by 2026.
Engineered for performance.
Key features from the Haliade-X offshore wind turbine
The Haliade-X offshore turbine features a 14 MW, 13 MW or 12 MW capacity, 220-meter rotor, a 107-meter blade, and digital capabilities.
Having been independently certified at up to 13.6 MW of output and for Typhoon conditions, making it the only turbine ‘bankable’ for customers seeking to finance projects, it also features a 60-64% capacity factor above industry standard. Capacity factor compares how much energy was generated against the maximum that could have been produced at continuous full power operation during a specific period of time.
