Engineering news
Plans for the world’s biggest offshore wind farm have been given the green light by the government, with planning permission for an array of up to 400 turbines 81 miles off the Yorkshire coast.
Dogger Bank Creyke Beck will have an installed capacity of up to 2.4GW, enough to power 1.8 million homes, and on its own supply about 2.5% of UK electricity.
The proposed site of the two adjacent wind farms (Creyke Beck A and B) covers a maximum area of 430 square miles.
It is the furthest offshore wind project from UK shores, while remaining in shallow waters of approximately 30m. It is also the first consented phase of the much larger Dogger Bank zone, which comprises six sites with an estimated total capacity of up to 7.2GW.
Dogger Bank will now enter a pre-construction phase, before the final investment decision is made. It could create up to 4,750 new direct and indirect full time equivalent jobs over the 25-year lifespan of the project.
Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey said: “This is another great boost for Yorkshire and Humberside. This development has the potential to support hundreds of green jobs and power up to 2 million homes.
“Making the most of Britain’s home grown energy is creating jobs and businesses in the UK, getting the best deal for consumers and reducing our reliance on foreign imports. Wind power is vital to this plan, with £14.5 billion invested since 2010 into an industry which supports 35,400 jobs.”
RenewableUK’s director of offshore renewables, Nick Medic, said: “This is an awesome project. It will surely be considered as one of the most significant infrastructure projects ever undertaken by the wind industry.
“Dogger Bank demonstrates the sheer potential of offshore technology to turn our vast ocean and wind resources into green energy. It is a project that pushes the offshore engineering envelope - demonstrating how far this technology has evolved in the ten short years since the first major offshore wind farm was installed in North Hoyle just 5 miles from shore.”