Offshore wind

Eni Buys Into World’s Largest Offshore Wind Farm

The Italian oil and gas major has taken on a 20% stake in the first two phases of the project, which ultimately will be run by Equinor.

World’s Most Powerful Offshore Wind Turbine | Haliade-X | GE Renewable Energy

Eni has agreed to take a 20% stake in the three-stage Dogger Bank Wind Farm in the North Sea. The company has taken 10% of the stake in the first two phases from partners Equinor and SSE Renewables each. Equinor and SSE each retain 50% of the third phase.

The first two stages of the project involve the installation of 190 turbines approximately 80 miles off the British coast. Each turbine has a capacity of 13 MW, for a total capacity of 2.4 GW. Once all three stages are complete, Dogger Bank will be the largest offshore wind farm in the world, generating approximately 5% of UK demand for renewable electricity and supplying energy to approximately 6 million British homes.

“Through the sheer scale of the project, we have delivered record-low contract prices for the UK market, and, as operator of the wind farm, we will continue to deliver value to the UK for years to come,” said Pål Eitrheim, executive vice president in New Energy Solutions at Equinor. “Together with our partners, we will continue to drive the energy transition to a net-zero emissions future for the UK.”

The project is expected to be complete in 2026, with the first two stages being completed in 2023 and 2024.

Dogger Bank will be the first project to use the largest commercially available turbines in the world, the 13-MW GE Haliade-X. When fully completed, each phase of the farm will be able to produce 6 TWh of renewable electricity, totaling 18 TWh annually.

Eni says its involvement in the project serves to further its net-zero goals. By joining the Dogger Bank project, Eni adds 480 MW of renewable energy to its 2025 target of 5 GW of installed capacity from renewable sources.

“For Eni, entering the offshore wind market in Northern Europe is a great opportunity to gain further skills in the sector thanks to the collaboration with two of the industry’s leading companies, and to make a substantial contribution to the 2025 target of 5 GW of installed capacity from renewables, an intermediate step towards the more ambitious target of zero net direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions in Europe by 2050,” said Claudio Descalzi, Eni’s chief executive officer.

Onshore construction is currently under way for the first two stages, Dogger Bank A and Dogger Bank B, with offshore construction for Dogger Bank A expected begin in the second quarter of 2022. For both phases, onshore and offshore cable and all turbine foundations are expected to be installed by 2023. First power is expected in summer 2023 and summer 2024 for Dogger Bank A and B, respectively, with commercial operations planned to begin the following year.