United KingdomDEME Offshore has been awarded a significant EPCI contract for the inter-array cables at the Dogger Bank C wind farm in the United Kingdom.

Dogger Bank C is the third phase of the 3.6 GW Dogger Bank Wind Farm, which is currently the largest offshore wind farm under construction in the world. The announcement today comes on the heels of the earlier awarding of the Dogger bank A and B inter-array cable contract in early 2021.

The new EPCI agreement covers the engineering, procurement, construction, and installation of subsea cables for the wind farm’s 1.2 GW phase. DEME Offshore will provide, install, and protect approximately 250 kilometers of 66 kV inter-array cables and all associated accessories.

Dogger Bank Wind Farm is located more than 130 kilometers off the coast of England’s north east coast and is currently being built by joint venture partners SSE Renewables, Equinor, and Eni. The wind farm will be built in three 1.2 GW phases, A, B, and C. Dogger Bank, when completed, will be the world’s largest offshore wind farm, generating enough energy to power up to 6 million homes per year.

The cable for Dogger Bank C will be manufactured beginning in 2023. The cables will be installed in 2025, and DEME will deploy its DP3 cable installation vessel ‘Living Stone’ once more. Living Stone has an in-house designed dual-lane system comprised of two cable highways, which allows cable laying to take place on one lane while the next cable is simultaneously prepared and the cable protection system (CPS) is installed on the other. As previously demonstrated, this significantly reduces the time required for cable preparation, reduces manual handling, increases the vessel’s workability, and, ultimately, improves production rates.

Dogger Bank A and B is a partnership between SSE Renewables (40%), Equinor (40%), and Eni (40%). (20 percent ). On November 2, 2021, SSE and Equinor announced the sale of a combined 20% stake in Dogger Bank C to Eni (10 percent each). The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2022, subject to regulatory and lender approvals, as well as customary purchase price adjustments. Eni will acquire the asset after the sell-down transaction is completed. Following the completion of the transaction, the new overall shareholding in Dogger Bank C will be SSE Renewables (40 percent), Equinor (40 percent), and Eni (40 percent) (20 percent ).