Equinor, the Norwegian oil company, and SSE Renewables, the Irish renewable energy provider, have decided to look into expanding the Dogger Bank Wind Farm, located more than 130 km off the North East coast of England. The companies intend to start early scoping work on the Dogger Bank D fourth phase of the offshore wind farm. The proposed Dogger Bank D development, which will add 1.32 GW to the 3.6 GW of current capacity at the project, will be owned equally by Equinor and SSE Renewables.
SSE and Equinor are investigating two options for their proposed offshore plant, one of which is to connect the new facility to the Lincolnshire grid. As an alternative, the companies might generate green hydrogen using clean energy at a dedicated electrolysis facility in the Humber region. The largest green hydrogen project in the UK might be built if they select the second option. The two companies aim to release an initial scoping report by next month.
In January 2023, Equinor and bp joined forces to bid in New York’s third offshore wind solicitation (NY3), having submitted a request to the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). The companies would compete in the NYSERDA auction for the Beacon Wind II lease area, which has more than 1.3 GW of potential clean energy capacity.
REGlobal’s Views: The expansion in capacity of the Dogger Bank D offshore wind project comes at a time when Europe is struggling with an unprecedented energy crisis owing to its dependence on Russian gas supplies. Such mega offshore wind projects will help the UK to better prepare for ensuring its future energy security. Further, using offshore wind to produce green hydrogen will enable the country to decarbonise its hard-to-abate industries.
