Jan De Nul Group’s jack-up installation vessel Voltaire recently installed its first offshore wind turbine at Dogger Bank.
GE Vernova’s Haliade-X 13 MW turbines are being installed at the site, one of the largest and most powerful globally. This is the first time Haliade-X units have been energised offshore anywhere in the world.
In total, Voltaire, which has a lifting capacity of 3,200 tonnes, will install 277 wind turbines for the Dogger Bank development. The blade tips reach 260 m above sea level, while each blade is 107 m long.
The first turbines have been installed around 130 km from the Yorkshire coast and connected via inter-array cables to the UK’s first unmanned high-voltage direct current (HVDC) offshore substation, which was set in place earlier in 2023.
This first phase of the joint venture project between SSE Renewables, Equinor and Vårgrønn (Dogger Bank A) is scheduled to be fully operational in summer 2024. SSE Renewables is lead operator for the development and construction the wind farm. Equinor will be lead operator of the wind farm on completion for its expected operational life of around 35 years. Vårgrønn brings specialist offshore wind expertise to the project.
Each of the 277 turbines will be progressively commissioned between now and full commercial operation in 2026.
