Dogger Bank, some 80 miles or so off the Yorkshire coast, is to host the biggest wind turbines the world has yet seen on what will likely become the world’s biggest wind farm when it comes online in 2023.
GE Renewable Energy will build the next-generation turbines, which are said to be about a third more powerful than current turbines. They will have a rotor diameter of 220 metres and a height of 260 metres. When compared with the London skyline, they would tower over the London Eye and approach the height of The Shard. A single turbine is said to have enough capacity to power 16,000 homes.
SSE and Equinor from Norway will jointly build the Dogger Bank Wind Farm, which will be capable of powering 4.5 million homes and contribute about 5% of the UK’s electricity supply. What is perhaps most notable, however, is that Dogger Bank will be one of the first offshore wind farms to not require a subsidy. At last month’s subsidy auction, it secured a guaranteed price of £40 per megawatt-hour, which is less than the current wholesale market price.
Offshore wind power has started to come into its own thanks to advances in technology making it more competitive. Farms can host extremely large turbines that would like be found unacceptable on onshore sites, while high-quality lubricants like Mobil SHC Gear 320 WT from Mobil distributors can help reduce planned and unplanned downtime – something that is particularly important in offshore locations.
