The Dogger Bank met mast west, which should be fully operational by the end of September, will provide wind, wave and weather information for the potential 9GW Dogger Bank project, which is located 150 kilometres from Britain’s eastern coast.
Formed in 2008, the Forewind consortium consists of German electric company RWE, Scottish utility SSE, and Norwegian companies Statoil and Statkraft.
Both masts were erected using innovative suction bucket-style foundations, which apply suction in the bucket to pull it into the seabed. They were designed by Universal Foundation and made by Belfast’s Harland & Wolff.
The 93-metre lattice tower was manoeuvred into place using guide cones with Fred Olsen’s 132-metre jack-up vessel, Brave Tern, helping to install the masts.
Universal Foundation’s design claims to be more cost-effective and easier to install than conventional monopile foundations. The UK’s Carbon Trust facilitated the use of the foundation throughits offshore wind accelerator programme.
