SSE and Equinor have secured financing to proceed with the construction of the £3 billion Dogger Bank C offshore wind farm.
The former Scottish and Southern Energy and its Norwegian partner said yesterday that Dogger Bank C would have a capacity of 1,200 megawatts and would generate about 6,000 gigawatt-hours of electricity a year when completed in 2026.
The project is the third phase of what the partners claim will be the world’s largest offshore wind farm, with installed capacity of 3,600MW, said to be enough renewable energy to supply 5 per cent of Britain’s demand, equivalent to six million homes.
Last week it emerged that Dogger Bank C had secured long-term power deals with Danske Commodities, the Danish energy trading company, Shell and Centrica.
The total senior debt facilities agreed are for £2.5 billion, plus ancillary facilities of about £400 million, with a group of lenders comprising 28 banks and three export credit agencies.
“The significant appetite from lenders underpins the attractiveness of UK offshore wind assets,” Pal Eitrheim, Equinor’s head of renewables, said.
The two companies previously agreed to sell a 20 per cent stake in the Dogger Bank C project to Eni, of Italy, which already owns an equal share in the first two phases of Dogger Bank, the construction of which is under way.