The developers of the Dudgeon offshore wind farm say they have delivered the £1.5 billion project under budget.
Statoil, Statkraft and Masdar have officially opened the 402 MW wind farm in the North Sea, and said that construction costs fell by more than 15 per cent since 2014, when they made their final investment decision.
The Dudgeon offshore wind farm consists of 67 Siemens SWT-6.0-154 wind turbines installed 40 km off the coast of eastern England. Local suppliers accounted for more than 40 per cent of the value creation in the Dudgeon project, the partners said.
Statkraft said that delivery of Dudgeon requires “significant technical innovation”. The company’s President and CEO Christian Rynning-Tønnesen added: “The project itself has been delivered on time, below budget, and most importantly with an excellent safety record.”
Statoil said that its priority now would be to gain efficiencies by collaborating with the nearby Sheringham Shoal offshore wind farm, which it commissioned in 2012.
Statoil’s executive vice president for technology, projects and drilling, Margareth Øvrum, said: “Over recent years Statoil has worked hard to reduce costs, improve efficiency and increase profitability in both our oil and gas and renewable energy projects. Reducing costs by more than 15 per cent, or £250 million and completing the construction phase without any serious incidents is a great achievement.”