Last year, Equinor combined operations for Dudgeon and Sheringham Shoal offshore wind farms off the Norfolk coast into one state-of-the-art hub in Great Yarmouth. In partnership with Masdar, China Resources, Green Investment Group and Equitix, the Great Yarmouth O&M Hub now powers more than 700,000 homes in the UK.
The Greater Wash site features a control room, office and warehouse with which Equinor manages Sheringham Shoal, Dudgeon and Hywind Scotland Pilot Park. The teams also moved to a single communication system for improved efficiency and safety. Further synergies have been leveraged offshore, as teams from both sites share the existing Service Operations Vessel, maximising time in the field and reducing emissions.
Dudgeon plant manager Karl Butler says there were clear advantages to exploring potential synergies across the business.
“We constantly look for improvements in how we can operate to create best value while reducing our carbon footprint.”
The O&M team is comprised of about 90 staff, which includes Engineers and Technicians now working on a two-week rotation, as well as onshore teams covering everything from health and safety to asset integrity and maintenance. Karl says the team have adapted well.
“It meant a change in working patterns, location and offshore model. Both onshore and offshore teams had to adapt to thinking jointly on how best to plan and execute work while getting to know new ways of working.”
Regular meetings with support teams and contractors have also been important to align on risks, priorities and opportunities under the new model.
The team’s core responsibilities involve the maintenance of assets including wind turbines and the transmission network, which includes substations as well as export cable routes.
Karl, who completed 12 years in the Royal Air Force as a mechanical technician, says: “We are responsible for the safe and efficient operations of the Greater Wash assets. Like cars, the turbines need regular attention, service and preventative maintenance to ensure that they are as safe and efficient as possible.”
Equinor is always looking to improve, by upgrading physical systems and software alike to reduce potential hazards and risks. Another area of improvement involves firmware, data and digital solutions. The team has recently introduced a new planning tool developed by Equinor called Vortex. The platform integrates multiple datasets from turbines, systems and weather forecasting.
“Now we can bring all this information together to better plan and execute our work,” Karl says.
New contracts include the provision of Seacat Columbia, a hybrid crew transfer vessel that is the first of its kind and which presents the opportunity to reduce carbon emissions.
Karl says that the strategy used to combine Sheringham Shoal and Dudgeon is the perfect model for extension projects involving both wind farms. “As we look to further grow the business, the hub concept can be scaled-up.”
The Planning Inspectorate recently accepted Equinor’s application to develop the Sheringham Shoal (SEP) and Dudgeon Offshore Wind Farm Extensions (DEP). The extensions will power an additional 785,000 homes and support more than 1,800 full-time jobs per year during the construction phase, while working towards net-zero targets.
Along with providing jobs and energy, the windfarms support the local community with the Sheringham Shoal Community Fund and Dudgeon Community Fund, as well as charities such as Nourishing Norfolk, which recently benefitted from a £20,000 donation on behalf of the Dudgeon partners.
“We’re here for a long time – so any way we can support and engage with the local community is very important to us” Karl says.
“We’ve been through change recently, but the overall priority remains the same: Safe and efficient operations, with the safety of everybody in and around our assets key to this.”
For more information, please visit dudgeonoffshorewind.co.uk and sheringhamshoal.co.uk
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here