Statoil's Dudgeon Offshore Wind Farm has starting producing its first electricity to the UK National Grid, off southeast England.
Some 67 foundations, plus cables and the offshore substation, on the wind park were installed last year and the first full wind turbine was installed in early January. When fully operational later in 2017, the 67-turbine offshore wind farm will provide electricity to over 400,000 homes.
The Dudgeon Offshore Wind Farm site is 32km off Norfolk, England and, and is 20km east of the Sheringham Shoal Offshore Wind Farm, where Statoil currently holds a 40% share. The Dudgeon Offshore Wind farm consists of 67 6MW wind turbine generators with a total installed capacity of 402 MW producing 1.73 TWh/year - equivalent to the consumption of more than 400,000 UK households.
Last year's installation work involved as much as 2000 vessel days and almost the same number is anticipated this year for the installation of turbines.
The installation of the remaining 66 wind turbine generators is expected to be completed by Q4/2017, when the wind farm will be fully operational.
The US$1.89 billion Dudgeon Offshore Wind Farm project is part of Statoil’s strategy is to gradually complement the oil and gas portfolio with profitable renewable energy and other low-carbon solutions.
Statoil currently holds a 40% share in the Sheringham Shoal wind farm located offshore Norfolk, UK, which has been in production since 2012. The Hywind Scotland pilot park offshore Peterhead, Scotland, the world’s first floating wind farm, will come in production in late 2017.
In 2016 Statoil acquired 50% of the Arkona offshore wind farm in Germany, which will come in production in 2019. Statoil was also declared the provisional winner of the US government’s wind lease sale offshore New York at the end of 2016.