The UK government has granted consent for the 2.4-gigawatt Dogger Bank Creyke Bank offshore wind farm development in the North Sea, making it the largest renewable energy development ever to receive planning consent in the country.
The project is developed by Forewind, which is a joint venture between RWE, SSE, Statkraft and Statoil, all of whom hold 25% stake each. Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey approved the application for the Dogger Bank Creyke Beck project, which comprises two separate 1.2-GW offshore wind farms, each with up to 200 turbines installed across an area of around 500 square kilometres.
The wind farms will be located 131 kilometres from the UK coast and will connect into the existing Creyke Beck substation near Cottingham, in the East Riding of Yorkshire. When constructed, Dogger Bank Creyke Beck is expected to be one of UK’s largest power generators. The rights for the Dogger Bank Zone were awarded to Forewind by The Crown Estate, manager of the UK seabed. Head of Offshore Wind for The Crown Estate, Huub den Rooijen said that:
As part of the consent process a final six-week judicial review period is now underway. A decision on Forewind’s second development consent order application, for Dogger Bank Teesside A&B, in anticipated around August this year.
The Dogger Bank development will consist of a number of offshore wind farms, each with an onshore grid connection and a capacity of up to 1.2GW. Each project will require its own development consent order.