Dogger Bank wind farm project to be delayed, says SSE

The SSE has warned that work on the first phase of the Dogger Bank wind farm project will not be completed until much later than planned next year.

The power generation company said Dogger Bank A, which at 1.2 GW will have enough installed generation capacity to power 2 million homes, would not be completed until the second half of 2025.

Perth-based SSE, which had planned to complete the work early next year, said it does not expect project returns to be “materially impacted” by the delay.

Located around 80 miles off the northeast coast of England, Dogger Bank will be the world’s largest offshore wind farm once fully built, capable of supplying electricity to up to 6 million homes.

Dogger Bank is being developed by SSE’s renewable energy business, Norwegian state oil giant Equinor and Vårgrønn, a joint venture formed by HitecVision and Plenitude/Eni.

Electricity began being produced from the wind farm in October 2023, and each rotation of the turbine blades produces enough clean energy to power a single British property for two days, according to SSE.

Advancing offshore wind generation will help bring the UK government closer to its goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to net zero levels by 2050.

The new Labor government wants to quadruple offshore wind capacity to 60GW as part of the goal to decarbonise the UK electricity grid by 2030.

Separately, SSE revealed that its renewable energy performance in the six months ending in September was stronger than the previous year and in line with forecasts.

Output from wind farms, solar projects and hydroelectric projects increased 44 percent to 5.3 terawatt hours compared to the same period last year, thanks to better weather conditions.

The FTSE 100 company also said it expects adjusted first-half profits of more than 45 pence per share, with the majority of full-year gains to come in the second half due to the “seasonal nature of trading”.

Meanwhile, it still anticipates adjusted operating profits from its flexible gas and thermal storage assets to total at least £200m for the full year.

SSE’s trading update comes as National Grid announced its first half result was in line with management’s forecasts.

actions of the ESS They rose 1.6 per cent to £19.04 on Thursday morning, meaning they have risen by around a quarter over the past year.