DONG Energy has awarded a multi-million pound contract to the UK-based engineering support services company Babcock for the construction of the world’s first offshore reactive compensation station for the 1.2GW Hornsea Project One offshore wind farm.
The reactive compensation station, which will be constructed in Babcock’s Rosyth facilities, will enable the high voltage AC system to work with cable lengths longer than those previously used for offshore wind. The reactive compensation station will be located between the offshore wind farm and shore.
Work to construct the reactive compensation station will start this summer and is set to be complete in 2018.
Ian Donnelly, Managing Director of Babcock’s energy and marine business, said: “Babcock is delighted to be working with DONG Energy on the construction of the world’s first offshore reactive compensation station at our facilities in Rosyth, Fife. This contract will sustain around 100 jobs within our operation here. Our team’s commitment to engineering excellence and focus on safe and effective delivery for our customers makes Babcock the ideal partner for major projects such as Hornsea Project One. This is a significant development for the UK’s renewables sector and Babcock is delighted to be playing its part in it.”
Hornsea Project One is located 120 kilometres off the Yorkshire coast – further than the distance from Leeds to Liverpool. It will span a huge area of approximately 407 square kilometres, which is over five times the size of the city of Hull. It is expected to be operational in 2020.
“DONG Energy is absolutely committed to investing in the UK and we are delighted to be working with Babcock on this world first structure which will play an important part of the world’s largest offshore wind farm. As well as generating clean, green energy for well over one million UK homes, Hornsea Project One is also providing a real boost to the UK supply chain. This contract with Babcock is another example of this,” Duncan Clark , Programme Director for Hornsea Project One at DONG Energy, said.