SSE-led Dogger Bank Offshore Wind Farms has announced OHT will be its preferred supplier for foundation installation at what will become the world’s largest wind farm.

The 3.6GW wind farm is a joint venture between SSE Renewables and Equinor, and will provide thousands of UK homes with power once complete.

OHT’s Alfa Lift, set to be the world’s largest and most efficient custom-built offshore wind foundation vessel, will be responsible for the transport and installation of monopile foundations and transition pieces for Dogger Bank’s Creyke Beck A (1.2GW) and Creyke Beck B (1.2GW) wind farms.

Utilising a single vessel, the foundations will be transported to the offshore site, approximately 130km off the north-east coast of England, and installed in water depths of up to 35m. With her unrivalled cargo capacity, the Alfa Lift heavy installation crane vessel will carry 10 monopiles and transition pieces on deck per voyage.

The monopile foundations will be the base for the most powerful turbine in the world, GE’s Haliade-X. The machine, the world’s first 12MW turbine, recently celebrated first power from its prototype in Rotterdam.

The past few months have seen a succession of announcements, including last month, which saw Dogger Bank welcome the world’s largest jack-up vessel which will install the turbines.

Paul Cooley, SSE Renewables director of capital projects, said: “Dogger Bank Wind Farms is paving the way for future offshore wind developments, not just in the UK but globally, by utilising some of the most innovative and efficient technology on the market, like the Alfa Lift vessel, and we are very pleased to have OHT working with us as we deliver this ground-breaking project.”

Steve Wilson, project director, Dogger Bank Wind Farms said: “The monopiles that will be installed at Dogger Bank will be amongst the largest ever used on an offshore wind farm and we needed a vessel that would allow us to deliver our

project in the safest and most efficient way. OHT’s Alfa Lift’s capability offers us this solution and we look forward to working with them to deliver Dogger Bank Wind Farms.”

Halfdan Brustad, vice-president for Dogger Bank at Equinor, said: “We look forward to working with OHT to make Dogger Bank a success.”