World’s Biggest Offshore Wind Farm Starts Producing Power  

The world’s largest offshore wind farm, the Dogger Bank Wind Farm in UK waters, has achieved first power and started sending electricity to the UK national grid, the developers of the project said on Tuesday, hailing the major milestone at the offshore wind farm whose construction continues.

Dogger Bank Wind Farm, with a total capacity of 3.6 gigawatts (GW), is being constructed in UK waters 130 kilometers (81 miles) off the coast of Yorkshire and in three 1.2 GW phases known as Dogger Bank A, B, and C.

The project developers are UK’s SSE Renewables in a joint venture with Norway’s energy major Equinor and Vårgrønn, a joint venture of Eni Plenitude and HitecVision.

“A renewable mega-project like Dogger Bank constitutes an industrial wind hub in the heart of the North Sea, playing a major role in the UK’s ambitions for offshore wind and supporting its net zero ambitions,” Equinor’s chief executive Anders Opedal said.

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said, “Offshore wind is critical to generating renewable, efficient energy that can power British homes from British seas.”

While the UK and the developers hailed the power milestone at the world’s biggest offshore wind farm, the current regulatory and business landscape for offshore wind faces headwinds in the UK and globally.

Last month’s UK renewables tender was a flop for the offshore wind industry—not a single offshore wind bid featured in the auction despite the fact that a record number of renewable energy capacity projects were awarded government funding.  

In July, a large UK project was canceled due to surging costs and challenging market conditions pressuring new developments. Vattenfall will not proceed with the development of the 1.4-GW Norfolk Boreas offshore wind project as the industry has seen cost increases by up to 40%, the company said.

Meanwhile, developers in the U.S. are seeking looser requirements for tax credits to make projects economically feasible.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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