32 GW; - enough to cover one fourth of the UK power consumption. That is how big the wind farm development looks to be in what is called the third round of Britain’s offshore wind development. More than a quarter of this; 9 GW, will be produced by the Doggerbank field. This means that Statkraft will play a significant part in the development of the world’s largest wind farm.  

“This will be a demanding task, but then again we have some highly professional partners”, CEO Bård Mikkelsen said as the plans were presented at a press conference in the Statkraft head office on Friday, 8 January.
“This is in line with our strategy to provide the world with more clean energy. We will draw on our competence from our onshore wind farms, and  will also develop our expertise in the development of offshore wind power generation,” Mikkelsen told the press.

Awarded the largest zone

Statkraft, Statoil, RWE npower and Scottish and Southern Energy plc are equal partners in the Forewind consortium, which was granted the rights to develop this huge area with wind farms by the British Prime Minister Gordon Brown earlier that day.
 
“Forewind was awarded the largest zone, which is the one we wanted and applied for,” said Margareth Øvrum, President of Technology and New Energy at Statoil. 

Both Norwegian companies were pleased with the trust placed in them by British authorities. As was Trond Giske, Minister of Trade and Industry.

“It is wonderful that Statkraft and Statoil have been given this opportunity,” he stated, once the news was out. He feels this will also present great opportunities for the Norwegian supplier industry and create many new jobs in Norway.
“We have 40 years offshore  operational experience with these types of installations. In that perspective, this may become an industrial boom”, Giske said.
 

First steps

A development on this scale is bound to take time. The first steps on the road are being taken now.
 
“We each put up NOK 350 million right now, and then each company will make its decision to invest when the time comes,” underlined Bård Mikkelsen.
 
The first investment decision will probably be made in 2014. The work on developing the project will produce results in any case, also with regard to Norwegian wind power projects. Lessons learned in the UK sector can provide us with essential knowledge for developing the deeper Norwegian offshore fields, where floating wind turbines are called for to a much higher degree.
 
“Some people will ask why we are doing this in the UK now, and not in Norway. In addition to the  terms and conditions for such a development being more favourable in the UK, we are talking about large, shallow ocean floors that are well suited for  seabed-mounted wind turbines. In Norway we will need the next generation of offshore wind turbines,” Bård Mikkelsen said.