Export cable installation to start at third Dogger Bank Wind Farm phase

The installation of export cables at Dogger Bank C, the third phase of the 3.6 GW Dogger Bank Wind Farm in the UK, is scheduled to start in early April.

The work will be performed in three campaigns to install three sections of export cable, with the first campaign starting on or around April 9, 2024, when the cable-laying vessel (CLV) NKT Victoria is expected to commence work for the 1.2 GW offshore wind farm.

The vessel will first install concrete mattresses at the Langeled and SEAL pipeline crossings, and the Dogger Bank B power cable crossing, and then move onto cable installation.

NKT Victoria will simultaneously lay and bury the export cable, except at the crossings and in locations where seabed conditions are unsuitable for simultaneous lay and burial; there, the cable will be surface laid.

The first campaign, which involves installing the middle section of the Dogger Bank C export cable, is expected to be completed around April 29. The section between landfall and the cable that is set to be installed in April will be installed in the second campaign, scheduled for August. The third campaign will see the last cable section, the one running to Dogger Bank C offshore wind farm, installed in October 2024.

NKT is the main contractor for the delivery and installation of the high-voltage DC (HVDC) onshore and offshore export cable systems for all three Dogger Bank Wind Farm phases.

The company started the offshore export cable installation on the first phase, the 1.2 GW Dogger Bank A, in 2022 and completed the work in October last year. In 2023, work started at the 1.2 GW Dogger Bank B.

The three-phase 3.6 GW Dogger Bank Wind Farm is being built in UK waters some 130 kilometers off the coast of Yorkshire.

The construction of Dogger Bank A is underway with the project in the wind turbine installation stage and already having produced first power. However, the project is now expected to be put into full operation in 2025 instead of this year, as originally planned, as the challenging weather conditions had impacted wind turbine installation, and vessel availability and supply chain delays further impacted progress, according to SSE’s third-quarter trading update from February.

Dogger Bank B is expected to be fully operational in 2025 and Dogger Bank C in 2026.

The Dogger Bank Wind Farm is owned by SSE Renewables (40%), Equinor (40%), and Vårgrønn (20%). SSE and Equinor are also planning to add a fourth phase, Dogger Bank D, to what will already be the world’s largest offshore wind farm. This part of the project is still in the planning and development stage.