Equinor has signed agreements with the Crown Estate for the lease of the seabed for proposed extensions to two existing windfarms off the coast of Norfolk.
The Sheringham Shoal offshore windfarm currently comprises 88 turbines with a combined capacity of 319MW and is jointly owned Equinor, the Green Investment Group and Equitix. The Dudgeon windfarm features 67 turbines with a combined capacity of 402MW and is jointly owned by Equinor, Masdar and China Resources Power.
Working with its partners in the case of the former and by itself in the case of the latter, Equinor plans to up to double the size of both windfarms, adding up to 27 and 34 turbines respectively to create as much as 719MW of new generation capacity.
The company is developing the extensions as combined project and as such will apply for a joint development consent order.
Equinor project manager Kari Hege Mork said: “The extension projects will make an important contribution to the UK’s decarbonisation goals, along with providing benefits to local communities through local jobs and economic opportunities.
“With good wind conditions, a short distance to shore and a location next to our existing wind farms, the two areas are perfectly suited to build on our offshore wind portfolio. This is a significant milestone as we develop these new wind farms, which will double our capacity for generating offshore wind in Norfolk.”
Mork said they have just finished the first phase of a joint consultation on the extensions: “Due to Covid-19, unfortunately we weren’t able to hold face to face events as we would have liked to, so instead we hosted a virtual exhibition platform with all the relevant information, and plenty of ways to get in touch.
“We had really great engagement, with over 1,600 people visiting the online platform during the consultation period. This feedback from the community is really important as we develop our plans.”
Meanwhile, SSE Renewables has signed a contract with Vestas to supply 103 of its 4.2MW V117 turbines for the 443MW Viking windfarm on the Shetland islands. SSE gave the go-ahead to the £580 million project in June, thereby fulfilling Ofgem’s conditions for aproving the installation of a new 600MW transmission link to the islands by the company’s network arm.
SSE said construction is expected to begin later this month and that the windfarm is scheduled to be completed in 2024.