'Maintenance needs for multiple vessels' could delay Dogger Bank A wind farm
'Maintenance needs for multiple vessels' could delay Dogger Bank A wind farm | Windpower Monthly
Maintenance issues impacting multiple vessels are behind the possible delays forecast at the Dogger Bank A wind farm in the UK North Sea, Windpower Monthly understands.
The mega project — part of the 3.6GW Dogger Bank offshore wind cluster — is being developed by UK developer SSE Renewables, which recently confirmed that commissioning of Dogger Bank A could be delayed to 2025 in a trading statement.
The statement referenced “vessel unavailability” as a reason why the wind farm could now see commissioning delayed until next year.
Windpower Monthly has since learned that the unavailability was the result of vessels in use at the project needing maintenance work, with multiple instances of port maintenance required for at least two of the specialist vessels needed for turbine installation in recent months.
There are only a limited number of ships in the world capable of installing the giant towers that support the large offshore wind turbines in use at projects like Dogger Bank A, with each needing to support massive cranes that lift and place turbine towers and other components into place at sea.
Related Knowledge Center: ENERGY BASICS: wind
Decades of government support for the development of wind energy has resulted in lower costs and a rapidly growing share of electricity generated by wind turbines. Wind in 2019 accounted for 7.3 percent of electrical generation, surpassing for the first time hydropower at 7.0 percent.