World’s Largest Wind Farm Closes Financing

Developers behind the world largest offshore wind farm have closed financing for the project, with investment totalling about £6 billion.

The multi-phase Dogger Bank wind farm will be located off the Yorkshire coast, in UK waters, and will feature 3.6 gigawatts of capacity once complete. The financial agreement signed by developers SSE and Equinor, and will cover two phases of construction.  

“We are proud to be leading on the construction and development of Dogger Bank Wind Farm, which has been 10 years in the making. We are putting our money where our mouth is on delivering net zero and reinforcing the UK’s position as a world leader. This investment will help drive a green recovery from coronavirus through the project’s construction over the next five years, creating jobs and boosting the local economy,” said Alistair Phillips-Davies, SSE CEO.


Completion 2026

The ambitious project will produce enough clean, renewable electricity to supply 5 percent of the UK’s demand once complete and will involve three phase in total. Each phase will have a capacity of 1,200 megawatts, with final completion scheduled for 2026.

“Achieving financial close for the first two phases of the world’s largest wind farm is a huge accomplishment and, alongside reaching Seagreen 1 financial close earlier this year, represents significant progress towards achieving our goal of trebling our renewable output by 2030,” Philips-Davies said. Around 35 percent of global offshore wind capacity and seven of the top 10 largest offshore wind projects are in UK waters.

SSE Renewables and Equinor are developing the project through a 50:50 joint venture company, with Dogger Bank A and B being constructed simultaneously to increase synergies resulting from their geographical proximity.
“The extensive interest from lenders underpins the attractiveness of UK offshore wind assets and confidence in SSE and Equinor,”  said Pål Eitrheim, Equinor’s executive vice president of new energy solutions.

Headquartered in Perth, Scotland, SSE is considered one of the Big Six energy firms in the UK, and work will be completed by subsidiary SSE Renewables. Headquartered in Stavanger, Norway, Equinor has operations in 36 countries and ranks as one of the world's largest oil and gas companies.
 

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