Construction begins at Dogger Bank windfarm

Dogger Bank is being developed by Forewind Limited – a consortium of leading international energy companies including RWE, SSE, Statkraft and Statoil.

Work started at the site with the installation of suction foundations, known as Bucket Foundations. Developed by Danish offshore structure support firm, Universal Foundation, they have been installed to support two meteorological masts that will provide essential weather information.

Phil De Villiers, head of the OWA programme, said: “This is the first deployment of the Bucket Foundation in UK waters. We’re excited about what this means for offshore wind development. The foundations represent 30% of the total cost of a wind farm. Reducing the capital and installation costs could really make an impact on the viability of future projects.”

Lee Clarke, project director and general manager, Forewind, added: “This is certainly a momentous occasion for us. The foundations will be the first structure put in place at the Dogger Bank site. It’s a sign that this project is really beginning to take shape.”

The met masts and foundations, which have been manufactured by Norwegian support company, Fred. Olsen United, are currently being ferried to the site by Fred. Olsen’s 132m jack up vessel, Brave Ten.

The met masts are expected to be installed towards the end of February 2013.

Forewind Limited already has six windfarm developments in place and hope sot have up to 9.6GW of output by 2020.