Dogger Bank Wind Farm innovation workshop sets sights on robotics

Dogger Bank Wind Farm today welcomes 80 supply chain representatives to an innovation workshop, focusing on robotics in offshore wind operations and maintenance.

The event, held at the National Innovation Centre for Data in Newcastle, is being delivered by business development organisation NOF, which specialises in the UK energy sector.

Bringing together representatives from the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult, North East England’s offshore wind cluster Energi Coast, the Offshore Wind Growth Partnership and the Dogger Bank operations team, the event aims to identify new technologies and suppliers that can help improve operational efficiencies on this flagship project and across the industry.

Dogger Bank Wind Farm has taken an innovative approach to operations and maintenance of an offshore wind farm, using the latest technology available to ensure safety and reliability in operating the wind farm, which will begin generating power in 2023.

Digitalisation and the usage of emerging technology, such as high-voltage direct current (HVDC) cables and an unmanned offshore substation, an industry-first, are core tenets of the development of Dogger Bank Wind Farm.

Mark Halliday, operations director for Dogger Bank commented: “We are delighted to be hosting so many local suppliers today in North East England. We are committed to providing opportunities to businesses throughout the operational phase of the wind farm and we see robotics as an area that can support development of a competitive UK supply chain.

“There is also a great opportunity to transfer technologies from other industries and the event is designed to help suppliers enter offshore wind from adjacent sectors such as oil & gas and automotive, which are already strengths of the region.”

In addition to offshore wind sector partners, the event will also include representatives from Dogger Bank Tier 1 suppliers for the operations phase including North Star Renewables and GE.

Tony Quinn, Energi Coast chair said: “Events like this one really bring home the value of having Equinor and their JV partners embedded in our region as well as one of the world’s largest wind farms on our virtual doorstep. For technology developers to have such ready access to ‘end users’ significantly reduces their time and cost of bringing new and innovative products to market.

“Technology which helps to further our understanding of offshore wind, through remote inspection, condition monitoring or indeed maintenance will ultimately drive improved reliability and improved safety by removing the need for manual intervention.”

Dogger Bank is being built in three consecutive 1.2GW phases; Dogger Bank A, Dogger Bank B and Dogger Bank C. In total the wind farm is expected to generate enough renewable electricity to supply 5% of the UK’s demand, equivalent to powering six million homes.

By Mark Adair – Correspondent, Bdaily