More than 200 jobs for North East as Port of Tyne to become base for world’s largest offshore wind farm

The multi-million pound investment by Equinor and SSE Renewables, the two companies behind the world’s biggest offshore wind farm Dogger Bank, in Port of Tyne will provide enough renewable electricty for 4.5million homes across the UK.

It was announced on Wednesday, May 13.

A joint venture between the two companies, the project will see an operations and maintenance base constructed at the Port, which is based in South Shields.

Construction work on the windfarm, led by SSE Renewables, began in January this year.

The base at Port of Tyne will include both office space and a warehouse and be the onshore base for Equinor’s teams ensuring the efficient operation of the wind farm.

As well as generating more than 200 direct jobs for the North East, the project will provide opportunities for companies at all levels of the supply chain.

The Dogger Bank Wind Farm is estimated to trigger a total capital investment of approximately £9billion over a six-year period.

Matt Beeton, Chief Executive Officer of the Port of Tyne said: “We’re absolutely delighted to have been selected by Equinor and SSE Renewables as the port of choice to house the Operations and Maintenance base for the largest offshore wind farm in the world.

“This is clearly a very important milestone in attracting such leading names in offshore power generation to the Port but it’s also extremely important for the wider region in terms of local supply chain and employment opportunities.”

He added: “We’re very excited to start working with Equinor and SSE Renewables to make this base a success and we’re looking forward to playing our part in the world’s largest offshore wind farm.”

The jobs required to operate an offshore wind farm include maintenance technician roles, that will predominately be based offshore, as well as office-based teams to support the operations from land.

The main recruitment activity will begin in early 2022 and ramp up as the project nears operation, with the first phase due to begin producing electricity in 2023.

As the announcement was made on Wednesday Stephen Bull, Senior Vice President for Equinor’s North Sea New Energy Solutions and Chair of Renewable UK, praised the North East’s strong industrial heritage

He also said the Port of Tyne is “clearly well set up” to attract future investments moving forward and that his teams were looking forward to becoming part of the local community.

Secretary of State for Business, Alok Sharma also hailed the huge investment in the region, and added: “This new facility is fantastic news for Tyneside and the North East of England.

“Renewable energy is one of the UK’s great success stories, providing over a third of our electricity and thousands of jobs.

“Projects like Dogger Bank will be a key part of ensuring a green and resilient economic recovery as well as reaching our target of net zero emissions by 2050.”

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