Major offshore wind developer RWE has revealed the next steps for the Dogger Bank zone after government gave the go-ahead for lease agreements to open.
The energy major holds the option on two of the six sites brought forward by The Crown Estate, with both sitting off the Yorkshire coast.
With Sofia already being brought forward in the vicinity, the twin 1.5GW additions - together with a same scale Lincolnshire coast venture from Total Energies and Green Investment Group - are seen as the latest to enter the project pipeline to bring more jobs and investment to Grimsby. RWE already operates Triton Knoll and Humber Gateway in the cluster.
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RWE is about to start a significant expansion of its Royal Dock site for operations and maintenance, with the UK country chair, Tom Glover, having recently underlined a long term commitment to the town to the area’s MPs.
Known as DBS (Dogger Bank South) East and West, RWE was awarded preferred bidder status in early 2021 following a tender process. They are located more than 110km offshore from Scarborough in the renowned shallow area of the near North Sea.
The German multinational company said that although the projects are at a very early stage, offshore and onshore surveys are already underway to support the development process, and include the deployment of metocean data collection technology and a series of geophysical and environmental surveys. Next steps will be to undertake the development and consenting process, which includes comprehensive stakeholder consultation, while determining exact installed capacity, along with securing grid connection agreements.
Danielle Jarski, RWE’s offshore wind chief development officer, said: “RWE has many years of experience in the UK offshore wind industry and is a key partner in helping the government achieve its ambitious targets of delivering 50GW of offshore wind by 2030. We look forward to working with The Crown Estate and all our other stakeholders to take these new UK offshore wind development projects forward in support of that commitment.
“The Dogger Bank South projects will bring significant benefits to the UK economy, representing a potential multi-billion pound investment in UK energy infrastructure supporting jobs and local, regional and national supply chains.”
The sites will be developed together by RWE, with the aim of submitting an application for development consent to the Planning Inspectorate in 2024.
An initial public consultation is due to launch later this summer or in autumn. Feedback received from the consultation, along with data gathered from surveys and discussions with statutory bodies, will help inform the project design.
Trevor Baker, DBS projects lead for RWE, said: “The consenting process for the scheme will include consultation with affected landowners, residents, parish councils and local interest groups in areas around the proposed locations of our infrastructure.
“Further details on our upcoming consultation activities, which will help us select sites for our onshore electrical infrastructure, will be available very soon.”
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