Dogger Bank A and B reach financial close

The project is being built in three 1.2 GW phases, with the first two phases being constructed at the same time. The two phases are thus being financed concurrently, with all lenders participating in each phase in equal proportions. The third phase, Dogger Bank C, is being developed on a different timescale with financial close to follow, say the companies.

Dogger Bank A and B will each require total capital expenditure of around £3bn, including offshore transmission capex of around £800mn per phase. The two companies say that investment in the first two phases of the project has already secured the creation of 320 new jobs for the North East of England associated with the development and operation of the wind farm, with more to come as construction ramps up.

To be located over 130 km off the north east coast of England, Dogger Bank Wind Farm will be the first to use the largest commercially available turbine in the world, the 13 MW GE Haliade-X. When fully completed in 2026, each phase of Dogger Bank Wind Farm will be able to produce 6 TWh of renewable electricity, totalling 18 TWh annually – enough to supply 5% of the UK’s demand , say the companies.

SSE Renewables and Equinor also announced that 15-year offtake power purchase agreements (PPAs) have been signed for the first two phases of the wind farm.

Separate PPAs for a total of 2.4 GW across both Dogger Bank Wind Farm A and B have been concluded with external offtakers Ørsted and Shell Energy Europe, and with sponsor offtakers Danske Commodities on behalf of Equinor and SSE Energy Supply on behalf of SSE Renewables. Ørsted will have trading and balancing responsibility for 960 MW while Shell Energy Europe, SSE Energy Supply and Danske Commodities will have responsibility for 480 MW each of installed generation capacity across Dogger Bank A and B.reactors (EPRs) to make the adjacent Hinkley Point C, and developing plans for a replica plant at Sizewell C.