SSE Renewables and Equinor have ditched plans to produce green hydrogen directly from the offshore Dogger Bank D wind farm.
The two companies announced on Friday (1 March) that they had secured a grid connection for the project. The announcement included the news that the option to direct the wind energy produced by Dogger Bank D towards hydrogen production, as publicly consulted on in Autumn 2023, had been retired from the project.
Dogger Bank D aims to generate up to 2GW of renewable electricity for the UK energy system and will add to the project’s A, B and C phases, all of which have a generational potential of 1.2GW. It is expected to be operational by 2026 and is located in the North Sea.
Both Dogger Bank A and B were successful in the 2019 Contracts for Difference (CfD) allocation round to be delivered in 2024/25 at £41.61/MWh.
National Grid ESO granted the project’s grid connection, and this will see Dogger Bank D connect to Birkhill Wood, a proposed new 400kV substation located in the East Riding of Yorkshire, which will be built as part of National Grid’s Great Grid Upgrade.
SSE Renewables confirmed that Dogger Bank D project developers will now focus on connecting to the electrical transmission system.
Rob Cussons, project manager for Dogger Bank D, said: “Dogger Bank D promises to build on the legacy we’re creating through the earlier phases of the Dogger Bank Wind Farm, during which we are working hard to deliver safe and respectful construction both offshore and onshore, as well as generating socio-economic value for current and future generations.”
The UK continues to add capacity to its offshore wind arsenal
The UK’s offshore wind sector continues to grow at pace, particularly given last year’s announcement regarding Hornsea 3.
In December 2023, Danish energy company Ørsted took its final investment decision (FID) on the 2.9GW offshore wind farm, dubbed the “world’s largest”.
The project, which will build on the operational Hornsea 1 (1.2GW) and Hornsea 2 (1.3GW) offshore wind farms owned by the firm, is expected to be fully operational by the end of 2027, just a year after Dogger Bank A, B and C. Hornsea 3 is also located in the North Sea, around 160km off the coast of Yorkshire.
It is worth noting that Ørsted received its development consent order (DCO) from the UK government for Hornsea 4 (2.6GW) earlier in 2023 and is now eligible for forthcoming CfD allocation rounds.