The Department of Energy and Climate Change has granted permission for the building of an offshore wind farm that is to be constructed on the north-east coast of the United Kingdom.
If the project goes ahead as planned, the Dogger Bank Teesside A and B Offshore wind farms will incorporate anything up to 400 wind turbines, and there will be two offshore wind generating stations.
Dogger Bank Teesside A will measure 560 km² and Dogger Bank Teesside B will cover 593 km². They will have the capacity to produce 2.4 GW of green power.
The offshore wind farm is being developed by a consortium of four different energy companies called Forewind. The consortium includes Norway-based Statkraft, international energy company Statoil, Scottish-based Energy Company SSE and Germany energy company RWE.
When the construction is finished, the new offshore wind farm will be situated at least 125 km away from the North East coast. Each generating platform will have up to 200 wind turbines and it is planned that they will be a number of collector platforms.
In addition, there are plans to build four platforms that would be used for either housing or and helicopters and there could potentially be up to 10 weather stations.
For the onshore part of the project, there are proposals for a converter station, and underground cabling would also be necessary.
The onshore elements of the planned project are to be situated in Cleveland and Redcar and they have the potential to create numerous jobs in the area. Once the project is complete, it will have the capacity to produce enough energy to power 1.8 million homes in Britain.
Commenting on the decision, Energy and Climate Change Minister Lord Bourne stated:
“Thanks to Government support the UK is the world leader in offshore wind energy. As we build the Northern Powerhouse, we want local communities to reap the benefits of investment and green jobs from low carbon developments like Dogger Bank Offshore wind project.”
Once the project is complete, it is set to be among the biggest power generators in the United Kingdom.
Forewind General Manager, Tarald Gjerde, said:
“It represents a real opportunity for the UK to receive even more of its energy from its abundant wind resource while creating significant economic benefits, particularly for the north eastern regions.”
Plans for the offshore wind development began with the statutory consultation phase in 2012 and with consent granted, the pre-construction and construction phrase are now free to begin.