Jones Bros Civil Engineering has successfully installed 177km of onshore HVDC cables for the 3.6GW Dogger Bank Wind Farm.
The Dogger Bank Wind Farm, being built in the North Sea more than 130km from the Yorkshire coast, will be capable of powering 6 million UK homes annually on completion.
The electricity generated by the Dogger Bank A and B wind turbines will come ashore south of Bridlington at Ulrome in East Riding, and be transmitted via underground HVDC cables to the onshore convertor station site in East Riding.
The Dogger Bank project is the first offshore wind farm in the UK to use HVDC technology, which allows electricity to be transmitted efficiently across long distances.
The HVDC cable route ends at the convertor station site near Beverley, where two convertor stations are currently under construction. Here, the electricity will be converted from HVDC to HVAC current for transmission to homes and businesses via the UK grid network.
The team will now focus on installing six kilometres of HVAC cable from the convertor station site near Beverley, to the Creyke Beck electricity substation near Cottingham.
North Wales-based Jones Bros was supported by Bristol-based Powersystems UK and North Yorkshire cable specialists FB Taylor, with initial ground preparation and drilling works supported by Essex-based Joseph Gallagher Group
Onshore construction to install the underground cables began in January 2020 with installation work of the cable ducting system starting in spring 2020.
Onshore project manager for Dogger Bank Wind Farm Oliver Flattery said: “The whole team has worked incredibly hard and diligently since the start of 2020 to safely and efficiently prepare the 30km route, through a combination of trenching and drilling methods, before installing protective ducts and then feeding 3,362 tonnes of underground cables through these ducts.”
Jones Bros project manager James Lockwood said: “Hitting this key milestone on the world’s largest offshore wind farm has been made possible thanks to the efforts of every individual on site.
“I know it brings everyone from senior managers to trainees and apprentices a great sense of pride to be associated with this project, and we’re excited to see how the rest of the scheme develops.”