SSE has warned that the first phase of its Dogger Bank wind farm project could be delayed until next year.
Construction on Dogger Bank A began in Spring 2022 and in October last year it began producing power for the first time.
Commercial operations were due to follow this year, however in its Q3 2023 trading statement, SSE revealed that challenging weather conditions, along with vessel availability and supply chain delays have had an impact on Dogger Bank A’s construction.
The company added: “Following notification of further vessel unavailability over the coming weeks there is an increasing possibility that full operations will not be achieved until 2025, although this is not expected to materially change project returns.
“The business is working closely with its supply chain partners to improve current turbine installation rates, with a further update on progress to be provided in May with publication of FY24 Results.”
Dogger Bank is the world’s largest offshore wind farm under construction and is being developed and built by SSE Renewables in a joint venture with Norway’s Equinor and Vårgrønn (a joint venture of Eni Plenitude and HitecVision).
The 3.6GW project is being constructed in three phases, which will eventually comprise 277 turbines.
Elsewhere in the trading update, the company revealed that SSE Renewables’ output was 1.3TWh (around 15%) behind plan for the nine months to 31 December 2023, largely due to “exceptionally still and dry weather conditions but also reflecting short-term plant outages and rephasing of flexible hydro output into the fourth quarter”.
This, the company said, represents a 10% shortfall relative to planned output for the full year.
“Good progress has been made by SSE Renewables at Viking in Shetland and at Yellow River in Ireland, where the first turbine has now been installed, as well as installation of the HVDC transmission system, cabling and foundations at Dogger Bank A,” it added.
Meanwhile SSE said that delivery of the SSEN Transmission investment programme continues to make good progress, with enabling work now under way on its Eastern Green Link 2, the HVDC link from Peterhead to Yorkshire.
Additionally, SSEN Transmission has successfully issued a £500 million 20-year green bond at a fixed coupon of 5.5%, which will be used to help finance critical national infrastructure projects.