Balfour Beatty has been awarded a contract by National Grid to deliver the first phase of the Birkhill Wood 400 kV substation in East Yorkshire, which will connect the planned Dogger Bank South East, Dogger Bank South West and Dogger Bank D offshore wind farms to the UK electricity grid.
The contract covers early contractor involvement, including detailed design and enabling works to prepare the site for the main construction phase, which is expected to start in 2027. Enabling works are already underway.
National Grid received planning consent for Birkhill Wood in June 2026.
The substation will support the grid connection of the three offshore wind farms, which together are expected to provide enough renewable electricity to power approximately four million homes.
Dogger Bank South East and Dogger Bank South West, each planned to have a capacity of 1.5 GW, are being developed by RWE and Masdar. Both projects secured development consent in May 2026 and contracts for difference (CfDs) in the UK’s Allocation Round 7 in January 2026. Commissioning is expected in 2031 and 2032, respectively, with a final investment decision (FID) targeted for 2027.
Dogger Bank D is being developed by SSE Renewables and Equinor. The proposed project has a planned capacity of up to 1.5 GW and has a seabed lease from the Crown Estate in place, but still requires development consent and a final investment decision before construction can proceed.
Balfour Beatty was appointed National Grid’s delivery partner for North East England under its GBP 8 billion (around EUR 9.6 billion) Electricity Transmission Partnership in 2025. The company said the overall Birkhill Wood project is expected to employ around 200 people at peak, including apprentices and graduates.