Image: Navantia
Spain’s state-owned shipbuilder, Navantia Seanergies, has successfully completed the load-out of the High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) substation jacket for the Dogger Bank C offshore wind platform, marking another milestone in the development of the world’s largest offshore wind farm.
The jacket, engineered and fabricated at the company’s Puerto Real shipyard, is bound for installation in the North Sea as part of the 1.2 GW Dogger Bank C project—developed by SSE Renewables, Equinor, and Vårgrønn. Measuring 37 by 38 meters, standing 46 meters tall, and weighing 2,900 tonnes, the structure presented a significant logistical and engineering challenge.
This delivery is part of an EPC subcontract awarded by Norwegian company Aibel, which has overseen the design and construction of substations across all three phases of the Dogger Bank project. The load-out operation, requiring intense coordination between engineering, production, and support teams, is another demonstration of Puerto Real’s growing relevance in the global offshore energy supply chain.
The Dogger Bank Wind Farm—being constructed some 130 kilometers off the Yorkshire coast—is divided into three 1.2 GW phases. Each phase is comparable in size to major metropolitan areas, with Dogger Bank C alone spanning a zone almost as large as Greater London. Once operational, Dogger Bank will be the largest offshore wind farm in the world, expected to power millions of UK homes.
Puerto Real specializes in offshore substation construction and has delivered six projects to date, two of them for Aibel. These jackets serve as the structural base for the HVDC substations, critical for transmitting power generated by wind turbines to onshore grids with minimal losses. The scale of these structures demands rigorous precision and multi-departmental collaboration.
The Dogger Bank C platform’s topside and foundation, including the jacket, will be installed by Heerema Marine Contractors under a contract signed in 2022. The substation jackets for Dogger Bank A and B were installed earlier, following financial closures in 2020, with the final Dogger Bank C contract signed in December 2021.
Each phase features Haliade-X turbines from GE, with Dogger Bank C deploying 87 turbines rated at 14 MW—slightly larger than the 13 MW units used in A and B. This marks the continued scale-up in turbine capacity and project complexity, further pushing the limits of engineering and logistics.
The jacket, now awaiting transport from Puerto Real, underscores Navantia Seanergies’ evolving role in Europe’s offshore wind supply chain and its collaboration with major players in the energy transition.
