Dudgeon and East Anglia ONE offshore wind farms

The developers of one of the world's largest offshore wind farms – the 402 MW Dudgeon Offshore Wind Farm, currently under construction 32 km out to sea from the North Norfolk coast – have announced financial close for the project.

The £1.3bn project is being developed by the Norwegian oil and gas company Statoil (35%), Abu Dhabi's renewable energy company Masdar (35%), and Norway's state-owned electricity company Statkraft (30%). The ‘mandated lead arrangers’ comprise banks from Japan, France and the UK.

Statkraft and Statoil are also participating in the financing through sponsor co-lending – Statkraft will finance its 30% share in the project, while Statoil will finance a share of 17.5%. Dudgeon is the first UK offshore wind project to obtain financing under the government's ‘contract for difference’ (CfD) scheme.

Scheduled to begin commercial operations by the second half of 2017, Dudgeon should deliver an annual production of 1.7 TWh of electricity, the combined output of 67 wind turbines.

Meanwhile, Siemens has won a major order for its offshore wind power business: the company is to supply, install and commission 102 wind turbines, each with a capacity of 7 MW, for the East Anglia ONE project. The customer is ScottishPower Renewables, a subsidiary of Iberdrola.

The East Anglia ONE offshore wind power plant is to be erected around 45 km off the British east coast over an area of 300 km². The 102 wind turbines will be installed on jacket foundations. While the nacelles will be manufactured in Cuxhaven, Germany, Siemens plans to produce the corresponding turbine blades at its Hull facility. The start of commercial operation is scheduled for 2020.