SSE, Equinor Agree Preliminary Dogger Bank D Seabed Lease Terms with The Crown Estate

July 12, 2024, by Adrijana Buljan

SSE and Equinor, the co-developers of the 2 GW Dogger Bank D project (DBD), and The Crown Estate have established commercial terms of a proposed variation of the existing Dogger Bank C seabed lease, within which the two partners plan to build the fourth phase of Dogger Bank Wind Farm.

The fourth phase of already the world’s biggest offshore wind farm under construction, the 3.6 GW Dogger Bank Wind Farm, is proposed to be built in the eastern portion of the seabed lease area of Dogger Bank C, which recently entered construction.

Since the new Dogger Bank Wind Farm phase would be located within the boundaries of the existing seabed lease area of the project’s third phase, it is not required to go through a seabed leasing process.

Furthermore, as The Crown Estate last year decided to assess whether further offshore wind capacity could be added through projects that are in development within areas where seabed leasing agreements are already in place, Dogger Bank D was identified as one of the seven offshore wind farms under consideration.

The UK seabed manager announced this in November 2023, saying that it aimed to unlock up to 4 GW of potential new offshore wind generation capacity through its Capacity Improvement Programme.

Nevertheless, the new projects still need to undergo the Plan-Level Habitats Regulation Assessment (HRA) that The Crown Estate is required to undertake before making final decisions under the wider Capacity Improvement Programme.

In line with this, the now-established commercial terms between Dogger Bank D shareholders SSE and Equinor and The Crown Estate are subject to the final outcome of The Crown Estate’s Capacity Improvement Programme and the associated Plan-Level HRA.

“The commercial terms established by project shareholders SSE and Equinor with The Crown Estate lay the groundwork to progress Dogger Bank D subject to the satisfactory outcome of the HRA and, if Dogger Bank D is progressed, subject to any additional provision which may need to be made to secure mitigation or compensatory measures in light of the findings of the HRA,” SSE and Equinor state in a press release issued on 12 July.

While Dogger Bank D does not need to go through the seabed leasing process, it does require a new Development Consent Order (DCO) to progress into construction.

According to information on the UK’s Planning Inspectorate website, SSE and Equinor are expected to file an application for a DCO in the first quarter of 2025. Initial consultations have been held with stakeholders, with further activities being planned for later in 2024, the developers said on 12 July.

In June, the Dogger Bank D partners revealed that they had submitted a Scoping Report for the 2 GW project to the UK’s Planning Inspectorate, in preparation for carrying out an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) that is required for applying for a DCO.

In February 2024, National Grid ESO released its Transitional Centralised Strategic Network Plan (tCSNP2) which includes a confirmation that Dogger Bank D will connect to Birkhill Wood, a proposed new 400 kV substation located in the East Riding of Yorkshire.

After the confirmation, SSE and Equinor dropped the previous plan to integrate green hydrogen production into the fourth phase of Dogger Bank Wind Farm, focusing entirely on power generation from the proposed offshore wind farm.

If the Dogger Bank D project is approved and built, it would bring the installed capacity of the (currently 3.6 GW) Dogger Bank Wind Farm, already the world’s biggest offshore wind farm under construction, to around 5.6 GW.

According to information SSE and Equinor shared earlier, Dogger Bank D would enter construction in 2029, at the earliest, subject to obtaining all necessary approvals and permits. Based on this timeline, the construction of the offshore wind farm is anticipated to be completed no later than 2035.