Dogger Bank windfarm: Milestone reached with 73 miles of underground cables laid in East Yorkshire

Jones Bros Civil Engineering began installing onshore cable infrastructure for two of the huge wind farms being developed on the Dogger Bank, 80 miles off Yorkshire's coast, in January 2020.The cable will transport power generated by Creyke Beck A and Creyke Beck B, from the landfall point at Ulrome, near Bridlington, to two new convertor stations off the A1079 south of Beverley.The North Wales civil engineering firm has installed almost 73 miles of high-voltage, direct current (HVDC) cables to the stations, with support from firms including North Yorkshire cable installation specialists FB Taylor.Work is ongoing on the final four miles of high voltage, alternating current (HVAC) cable to the Creyke Beck sub-station near Cottingham, where the electricity will be exported to the grid.Dogger Bank will be the first HVDC connected wind farm in the UK, which should minimise losses of energy.Onshore project manager for Dogger Bank Wind Farm Oliver Flattery, said: “The whole team has worked incredibly hard and diligently since the start of 2020 to safely and efficiently prepare the 30km route, through a combination of trenching and drilling methods, before installing protective ducts and then feeding 3,362 tonnes of underground cables through these ducts."This has been a huge undertaking, and one we’re all proud to have been part of. "Nigel Baldwin, Health and Safety Director for FB Taylor, said: “Working on the largest offshore wind farm has been a humbling experience for all involved and something that we are immensely proud of.”

Altogether the wind farm - Creyke A, Creyke B and a third, Teeside A, should power some six million homes.

Work will start next year installing the first turbine on Dogger Bank A, with a total 277 GE Renewable Energy Haliade-X turbines set to be installed on all three phases by 2026.

In July the Government approved a further round of offshore wind farms including two north east of Scarborough, which together should generate 3 gigawatts of energy.