What is huge structure that’s taking shape next to A1079?
MILESTONE IN OFFSHORE WIND FARM PROJECT
THE first of two giant buildings marking the next milestone in the world’s largest offshore wind farm project has started to appear next to one of the region’s busiest roads.
Drivers on the A1079 travelling between Hull and Beverley can now see the first stages of an onshore converter station starting to take shape on a site in open countryside near Dunswell.
The site will eventually house two stations designed to take electricity from the Dogger Bank Wind Farm which is being built more than 130 kilometres off the Yorkshire coast in the North Sea.
The stations will receive electricity carried to the site via a 30km underground route featuring buried ducted cables starting near Ulrome on the East Coast after being brought ashore via underwater cables linked to the wind farm.
From there, the electricity will be directed to the nearby National Grid substation at Creykle Beck near Cottingham where it will then be distributed nationally to UK homes and businesses.
Eventually, the project will be capable of powering up to six million homes with a third converter station earmarked for a site in Teesside.
That’s the equivalent of around 5 per cent of the UK’S energy needs, with much of it being routed through East Yorkshire.
As their name suggests, the converter stations convert the electricity to an alternating current before transmission to Creyke Beck.
Rachel Lawrence, community engagement manager for the Dogger Bank Wind Farm, said: “Great progress has been made over the last few years to prepare the land-based infrastructure for the first and second phases, which will connect to the National Grid in the East Riding.
“We now have a third of the high-voltage cables and three quarters of the ducts installed from the landfall point at Ulrome to the onshore convertor station site off the A1079 between Beverley and Cottingham.
“The last few weeks have seen the installation of steelwork which will form the superstructure of the service building at the converter station site off the A1079.
“This is the first of three converter stations to be built which together will play an important role in providing renewable energy to millions of homes.
“A total of two stations will be built at the A1079 site with the third to be built near Teesside, where the wind farm connects to the National Grid substation at Lackenby.
“The work in the East Riding is being overseen by our contractors Jones Bros Civil Engineering UK, Hitachi Energy and NKT.
“Along with our contractors, we remain committed to operating safely, sustainably and respectfully as we continue our work in the East Riding into 2022 and beyond.
“Next year we will start work on the offshore infrastructure, with the foundation installation programme beginning for the first phase. The first phase of the wind farm will achieve first power in 2023, with all three phases reaching full power by 2026.”
Preparation work at the A1079 site has been carried out by the Hull-based Ashcourt Group.
The overall project is a joint venture between energy firms SSE Renewables, Equinor and Eni.