Dudgeon Offshore Wind Farm Officially Opened
Stavanger, Norway - Operator Statoil and its partners Masdar and Statkraft officially opened the Dudgeon offshore wind farm in Great Yarmouth, UK.
As Statoil points out, since the investment decision was made in 2014, construction costs have been reduced by more than 15 percent, from GBP 1.5 billion to approximately GBP 1.25 billion. Local suppliers account for more than 40 percent of the value creation in the Dudgeon project.
"Dudgeon represents an important contribution to realizing the UK’s renewable energy strategy. The UK has already achieved impressive reductions in CO2-emissions with clear policies to phase out coal, and last year achieved the lowest CO2 emissions since before year 1900. Statoil points out, to be proud to contribute to this both by being a large supplier of natural gas and by our investments in offshore wind," says Statoil’s CEO Eldar Saetre.
Besides Dudgeon offshore wind farm Statoil in the same area also operates the Sheringham Shoal offshore wind farm. According to Statoil, it's priority is to improve efficiency further and increase collaboration between projects. As Statoil points out, the company already has a sizeable renewables portfolio. Its current offshore wind portfolio has the capacity to provide more than 1 million homes with renewable energy. This includes the Sheringham Shoal wind farm in the UK, the Arkona offshore wind farm in Germany and Hywind Scotland, the world’s first floating offshore wind farm, which came into production in October. The operations center and maintenance base for the Dudgeon offshore wind farm is located in Great Yarmouth.
Towards 2030 it is estimated that the installed capacity of offshore wind in Europe can grow from about 12.000 MW (2016) to 70.000 MW. Improved technology, increased deployment and lower costs are the key drivers turning offshore wind into an attractive power source, outcompeting traditional sources of energy in important markets.
Source: IWR Online, 24 Nov 2017
