Dogger Bank Wind Farm 'will place South Tyneside at the centre of the UK’s offshore green energy industry,' says chief

Plans for an operations and maintenance (O&M) base at Tyne Dock serving the massive Dogger Bank Wind Farm were approved over the summer, which is expected to create 200 jobs.

And the giant wind farm will place South Tyneside and the North East at the centre of the UK’s offshore renewables industry, according to Tom Nightingale, North East stakeholder manager at international energy company Equinor.

The £9billion Dogger Bank Wind Farm will be operated by Equinor for up to 35 years. When it is completed in 2026, the 3.6GW project will be capable of providing renewable electricity for around six million UK homes.

Mr Nightingale said: “The size of Dogger Bank sets a new precedent for large-scale offshore wind, and there are a number of world firsts in this project – from the first installation of the biggest turbines to the first ever unmanned offshore convertor station. The high voltage DC cables are also a first in the UK for offshore wind, transporting power to shore over such a long distance.

“To put the scale into perspective, each blade at 107m long is around double the wingspan of the Angel of the North. One rotation of each turbine can power a home for two days.

“From South Tyneside, we’ll be operating the wind farm, which will be able to provide around 5% of the UK’s electricity demand. Our investment in this enormous project will have a knock on effect, not only for the supply chain but for other small and medium sized businesses based here.”

Mr Nightingale will be sharing his experiences of working as part of the team behind the world’s biggest offshore wind farm in the latest in a series of business talks by Invest South Tyneside.

As well as talking about the colossal Dogger Bank project and Equinor’s role in one of the UK’s largest infrastructure projects, he will also discuss the potential for jobs creation as well as business opportunities for the supply chain and SMEs across the borough and beyond.

George Mansbridge, corporate director for regeneration and environment at South Tyneside Council, said: “Dogger Bank will be the world’s largest wind farm located 130km off the North East Coast and will be capable of powering six million British homes.

"Port of Tyne will be the Operations and Maintenance base of the windfarm and will create over 200 direct jobs in the North East.

“It is great to be working alongside Tom, so we can hear first-hand about the significance of the project to the borough and the wider region.

"It is a great introduction for the local business community in terms of supply chain opportunities, but the impact will stretch much further through community engagement projects and interaction with local schools and colleges.”

The talk and interactive Q&A session, hosted by Ian Farrar, will be live streamed from One Trinity Green’s Content Suite at 10am on Friday, September 17.

Alongside its partners SSE Renewables and Eni, Equinor is building Dogger Bank, 130km off the North East coast.

Equinor is working closely with the North East Offshore Wind cluster Energi Coast and the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult in Blyth to advance the offshore wind industry in the region.

This includes supporting the Technology, Innovation & Green Growth for Offshore Renewables (TIGGOR) programme designed to boost supply chain growth and productivity for companies in the North East.

The Business Talk will be live streamed from the Invest South Tyneside social media channels: facebook.com/InvestSouthTyneside or Twitter.com/STyneBusiness

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