SSE has revealed that the completion of Dogger Bank A, the first of the three phases of the UK’s Dogger Bank Wind Farm, is projected for the second half of 2025, which is later than the previously expected first half of the year.
In its interim earnings report released on 3 October, SSE said that while the completion of Dogger Bank A offshore wind farm is now anticipated in the second half of 2025, the project’s returns are not expected to be materially impacted.
The company also said that its renewables performance for the first half is higher than previous years but in line with expectations, reflecting weather conditions across the first six months of the financial year. This, combined with year-on-year capacity increases, has delivered an output of around 5.3 TWh at 30 September 2024, around 44 per cent higher when compared to the same period last year, according to the UK firm.
This is not the first instance of SSE citing delays in the Dogger Bank A project. In February 2024, the developer said that challenging weather conditions had impacted wind turbine installation at Dogger Bank A, with vessel availability and supply chain delays further impacting progress.
At the beginning of May, a blade on an installed turbine at the Dogger Bank A sustained damage, after which GE Vernova launched an investigation into the cause of the incident. The company’s initial findings were that the circumstances surrounding the incident were isolated to the single blade affected and that the damage was due to an installation error.
A few months later, another blade sustained damage and failed. According to an analysis conducted by GE Vernova, this happened during the commissioning process and was not caused by an installation or manufacturing issue.
Dogger Bank A will comprise 95 GE Haliade-X 13 MW wind turbines and is the first of the three 1.2 GW phases of what is set to become the world’s biggest offshore wind farm once completed.
The Dogger Bank Wind Farm project is owned by the consortium of SSE Renewables, Equinor, and Vårgrønn.