Consent granted for 2.4GW Dogger Bank offshore wind farm

Dogger Bank is also the largest offshore wind project to receive consent globally and has come about following over four years of assessments, stakeholder consultation and planning by the Forewind consortium, which is owned equally by RWE, SSE, Statkraft and Statoil. This work is said to have included the most extensive study of an offshore area by a wind energy developer ever undertaken with more than £60m spent on surveys. 

Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey approved the application for the Dogger Bank Creyke Beck development, which was submitted to the Planning Inspectorate by the Forewind consortium in August 2014.

‘This is another great boost for Yorkshire and Humberside. This development has the potential to support hundreds of…jobs,’ he said in a statement. ‘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 £14.5bn invested since 2010 into an industry which supports 35,400 jobs.’

Huub den Rooijen, head of Offshore Wind for The Crown Estate, said: “[This] announcement for Dogger Bank Creyke Beck is the largest planning consent for an offshore wind development globally.

‘The sheer scale of this project creates the potential for it to be built at significantly lower costs, presenting a powerful opportunity for economic growth and jobs. We look forward to working with the Forewind consortium and the wider offshore wind industry to ensure the UK remains the most attractive country to invest into the long term.’

Dogger Bank Creyke Beck, which has a total generating capacity of 2.4GW, comprises two separate 1.2GW offshore wind farms, each with up to 200 turbines installed across an area of around 500km².

The wind farms will be located 131km from the UK coast and will connect into the existing Creyke Beck substation near Cottingham, in the East Riding of Yorkshire. 

When constructed, Dogger Bank Creyke Beck is expected to be one of UK’s largest power generators, second only to the 3.9GW Drax coal-fired station in North Yorkshire and is the same size as the 2.4GW Longannet coal-fired station in Fife. In total it will be capable of generating 8TWh of energy per annum. 

It is claimed that the Dogger Bank Creyke Beck could create up to 4,750 new direct and indirect full time equivalent jobs and generate more than £1.5bn for the UK economy, with the majority of opportunities in the North East and Yorkshire and the Humber regions.

Dogger Bank Creyke Beck is part of the Dogger Bank Zone, the largest of the Round 3 zones but one of the shallowest, with high wind speeds and seabed conditions that have been identified as well suited to offshore wind development.