Chamber hears of Dong’s commitment to ‘global hub for renewables’

Dong Energy’s Philip Ford (centre) with Chamber President Steve Eastwood (left) and Chief Executive Ian Kelly.

THE Humber is becoming a global hub for renewable energy, Philip Ford from Dong Energy’s London headquarters told the Chamber during the Danish company’s first major engagement with Chamber business leaders.

Following its nationwide announcement of the signing of a memorandum of understanding with Able UK, Dong is now set to establish an operations centre at Able’s £400-million renewables operation in North Killingholme.

One of the world’s largest offshore wind farm developers, Dong’s Stakeholder Co-ordinator Mr Ford explained the company’s name stands for Danish Oil and Natural Gas, before outlining its vision for renewables for the Humber and the UK in the coming years.

The Westermost Rough wind farm development was recently inaugurated from Dong Energy’s purpose-built £3.7-million base on the Humber. The wind farm uses the largest turbines commercially available, each with 75m blades, and has the capacity to supply more than 150,000 homes. Mr Ford said 90 per cent of the operation and maintenance staff are local people and Dong has worked closely with fishermen in the area to minimise the effect the wind farm has on their industry and there is now a good working relationship.

In addition to the Humber development, Dong Energy is building more wind farms. Off East Yorkshire, Hornsea Project One will be the biggest development near the English coast and will eventually be able to power around 800,000 homes. It is expected to be online by 2021, while another major wind farm will be built at Race Bank, off the North Norfolk coast.

With 20 years’ experience in offshore activities, Mr Ford said Dong Energy produces a third of the global capacity for offshore wind. It has been active in the UK since 2001 and now has 600 employees and 10 operational wind farms in the UK, the result of a £5.5-billion investment to date.

Mr Ford explained that Dong has three strategic targets in the UK, health and safety, to increase capacity – the company has a 6.5GW target for 2020, increasing from its current 3GW, and thirdly, to reduce the cost of electricity through standardisation, industrialisation and aligning the entire supply chain to deliver reductions in cost through economies of scale, something they are working with the Atkins Group and other partners to achieve.

Reinforcing the pan-Humber nature of this emerging industry, Mr Ford said Siemens in Hull will be supplying some of the wind turbines to Dong as the Humber becomes a global hub for renewable energy.

Chamber Chief Executive Dr Ian Kelly said: “Philip’s presentation to the Chamber locally was very well received and the company was interested in our growing Chamber activities with his fellow colleagues in Denmark via our British Danish Chamber partnership connections. The company’s commitment to growing its local supply chain was also welcomed, along with their desire to develop all the Humber opportunities that are now emerging.”