United Kingdom – North Star Renewables will deliver three service operation vessels (SOVs) for the Dogger Bank A and B phases.
The total value of the contracts including options is estimated at about GBP 270 million.
North Star will deliver one SOV to be used for scheduled maintenance at Dogger Bank A and B. The vessel is due to be delivered in January 2024 and will also serve Dogger Bank C when this phase of the wind farm is operational. A further two SOVs will be delivered by North Star to be used for corrective maintenance, at Dogger Bank A and Dogger Bank B. Delivery of these vessels is scheduled for July 2023 and July 2024 respectively.
A further contract for an SOV to be used for corrective maintenance at Dogger Bank C will be tendered at a later stage. All three contracts will run for a fixed period of 10 years and include three one-year options.
Fully equipped SOVs
The three SOVs will feature a hybrid battery solution and power-to-shore to reduce fuel consumption and emissions. Each vessel will have dynamic positioning (DP2) capability, with walk-to-work gangways for safe transfer of personnel and equipment to and from the turbines. Using these gangways means that technicians will be able to transfer safely in wave heights above three meters.
Dogger Bank wind farm
Dogger Bank wind farm is located between 130km and 190km from the North East coast of England. Dogger Bank will be the largest offshore wind farm in the world when complete in 2026, and is being built in three equal phases of 1.2 GW: Dogger Bank A, B and C. Combined, they will have an installed capacity of up to 3.6GW and will be capable of powering up to 6 million homes.
SSE Renewables is the operator during the construction phase of the wind farm and Equinor will be the operator during the operations and maintenance phase. Onshore construction for Dogger Bank A and B began in January 2020. Offshore installation will begin from 2022, with the first power from Dogger Bank A expected in the same year.
