The developers of the Dogger Bank offshore wind farm have completed the design for the operations and maintenance (O&M) base for the 3600MW project and have filed a planning application.
The plans for the O&M facility, to be built in the Port of Tyne have been submitted to South Tyneside Council.
The construction contractor will be appointed in the coming months.
Working with international design practice Ryder Architecture, headquartered in Newcastle, Equinor has designed the O&M Base to be built using environmentally friendly materials.
EV chargers, solar panels and efficient heating systems have been included to ensure the facility has a low carbon impact.
It will serve as the main hub for opera ting the wind farm which when complete will be capable of providing around 5% of the UK’s electricity demand.
As well as offices for those based onshore and a warehouse to store spare parts for the wind farm, the design includes development of a new quay suitable for the service operation vessels (SOVs) that provide accommodation, and transport for technicians to and from the wind farm.
The vessels will come to the port approximately twice a month for resupply and crew change.
SSE Renewables is leading on construction of the wind farm and Equinor will operate the wind farm for its lifetime of up to 35 years, creating over 200 direct jobs in the North East of England.
Equinor said some roles will be based onshore, such as planners, engineers and management, whilst other roles such as wind turbine technicians will be based offshore at the wind farm itself, living for two weeks at a time on a vessel over 130km out to sea.
The main recruitment activity is expected from 2022.
Halfdan Brustad, vice president for Dogger Bank at Equinor, said: “Dogger Bank is set to have a huge impact in the North East of England.
“On top of the hundreds of direct jobs the project creates, opportunities from the project will reach many others in the region from industry suppliers to catering companies.
“We specifically chose a local firm, Ryder, to work closely with in designing this flagship facility, and have ensured it is both environmentally sustainable and future-fit in order to attract the best local talents to join our team. We share the final designs with pride and can’t wait to get started!”
Dogger Bank is being built in three equal phases of 1.2GW each.
The first two phases, Dogger Bank A and B, are a joint venture between Equinor (40%) SSE Renewables (40%) and Eni (20%).
The third phase, Dogger Bank C, is being developed on a different timescale and is owned by Equinor (50%) and SSE Renewables (50%).