ABOUT EQUINOR
Welcome to Equinor. We are an international energy company that is operational in 30 countries, with our headquarters in Norway. In the UK we have three commissioned offshore wind farms; Sheringham Shoal, Dudgeon and the world’s first floating offshore wind farm, Hywind Scotland. Currently, the Sheringham Shoal and Dudgeon Wind Farm Extension Projects are in the consenting stage. Our joint partnership with SSE and Vårgrønn project, Dogger Bank, is under construction and will produce its first power in Autumn 2024.Once fully operational, Dogger Bank will be the largest offshore wind farm in the world, producing enough energy to supply more than 5 million British homes with electricity from 2026.
By 2030, Equinor plans to invest 50% of their capital spending on renewables and low carbon markets, to meet the national and global targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
ABOUT CAREERS AND OPPORTUNITIES
With aims to increase our renewables activities, there are a growing number of career opportunities, and already the energy sector is seeing skills gaps. At Equinor people are the most valued resource. Therefore, we believe it is important to build capacity, because without skilled and committed people there would not be a future workforce. To achieve this, we are expanding the range of opportunities to get more young people into the industry and provide the chance for people to move around within the company gaining new skills and training on the job.
Post 16 Opportunities
In October 2022, Equinor had their first set of work experience students (sixth form college age) for a pilot programme hosted at the Great Yarmouth Operations & Maintenance Base and it was a success. Since then, Equinor has taken on work experience students during the summer of 2023 at Dogger Bank’s new Operations & Maintenance Base in The Port of Tyne and enabled a second 20-day opportunity in Norfolk in partnership with the Ogden Trust Summer Internship programme.
“It has provided me with such a great opportunity to discover so much about a vital industry and consider whether I would like to pursue a career in the sector. This is also helpful for making informed decisions about post 18 education and knowing what skills will be needed before starting a career.” Martha Eaton, Summer Intern at Great Yarmouth 2023
The Ogden Trust 20-Day Summer Internship with Equinor allows for two-way learning. Students gain knowledge and experience from being in a work environment linked to an interest, whilst bringing their pre-existing skills and strengths to the workplace. You can learn lots about your ability when you challenge yourself. To learn more about the opportunities available, check out the Ogden Trust Coastal Energy Internships to learn about past projects and look out for upcoming opportunities that are advertised through your college.
Ogden Trust Coastal Energy Internships
Post 18 Opportunities
Equinor Summer Interns
For those on undergraduate degrees in relevant fields, you can apply for a 6-week Summer Internship placement to join one of the four main areas within the company.
- Engineering, Technology and Sciences
- Digital & Information Technology
- Corporate and Business
- Renewables (REN) and Low Carbon Solutions (LCS)
- Consenting, Environment and Sustainability
During your internship you will be able to work on projects that add real value and make a difference to the energy transition. There is a video in the videos section below, which explores how two mentors found working with summer interns. If you would like more information on how to get involved, click on the link Equinor Summer Interns.
Graduate Programme
The graduate programme is two years long and from day one you become permanent employees. During your time you will receive a series of rotations moving to different areas of the company and locations. Throughout the programme you will receive ‘on the job’ training and have access to multiple courses from ‘Equinor University’. You will have a buddy and a mentor for support.
For more information, click on the link Equinor Graduate Programme.
During Your Career
At Equinor there are many opportunities to move to other positions within the company and even if you lack relevant experience, the company is willing to give you the opportunity to rise to the challenge. This provides the chance to gain new skills and training for your continuous professional development.
ABOUT SHERINGHAM SHOAL OFFSHORE WIND FARM
There are 88 wind turbines and each of the turbines can produce up to 3.6 megawatts, which provides energy to around 280,000 UK homes.
Sheringham Shoal wind farm is on a 35km2 site that is 9-17 miles off the coast of Norfolk. Unlike Dudgeon, Sheringham Shoal is therefore in UK territorial waters.
The large number of turbines are monitored by the Control Room from the surveillance cameras on the two substations. The control room engineers at the Operations & Maintenance base in Great Yarmouth watch the camera footage 24 hours a day and keep an eye on the weather to ensure the technicians working on the turbine are safe. Sheringham Shoal is owned by Equinor, Equitix and The Green Investment Group through Scira Offshore Energy Limited.
The SOV (Service Operation Vessel), called ESVAGT Njord, has a 60 personnel on board (POB) limit. 38 of these places are filled with technicians and engineers and 22 places are occupied by the ESVAGT crew. This is where the technicians live whilst offshore for two weeks. All rooms are single occupancy cabins and en-suite, along with thicker walls of the vessel to reduce noise and maximise comfort whilst onboard. It takes 4 to 5 hours to sail from the port to the wind farms.
The vessel is the largest in the Great Yarmouth harbour. It is 82 meters long and weighs 2,400 tonnes. The SOV follows the SOLAS (Safety Of Life At Sea) legislation, which was drafted as an international standard for sea after the Titanic, ensuring there is the right capacity of life rafts that can hold more than the POB.
To find out more about this wind farm, visit our website - http://www.sheringhamshoal.co.uk/
ABOUT DUDGEON OFFSHORE WIND FARM
The Dudgeon windfarm covers an area the size of Norwich!
There are 67 wind turbines, they each produce up to 6 megawatts which provides power to around 430,000 UK homes.
The Dudgeon Wind Farm is around 20-32 miles off the UK coast and as it falls outside of UK territorial waters, the items must be exported – which involves extra processes. It is currently the furthest operational wind farm away from the UK shoreline (though this will change soon with Dogger Bank becoming operational) and is owned by Equinor, Masdar and China Resources (Holdings), through the joint venture company Dudgeon Offshore Wind Limited. Equinor developed the plant between 2012-2017 and, as with Sheringham Shoal, are the operators. This wind farm is also monitored by the Control Room engineers at the Great Yarmouth Operations & Maintenance base.
Electricity generated by the wind farm is brought to shore via a seabed cable at Weybourne on the North Norfolk Coast. From this point, there is an underground cable that carries this electricity to Necton (in the Breckland district of Norfolk) where an onshore substation enables the electricity to be transmitted into the National Grid.
To find out more about this wind farm, visit our website – https;//dudgeonoffshorewind.co.uk.
ABOUT THE OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE BASE
Control Room:
The Control Room monitors 3 wind farms, Sheringham Shoal, Dudgeon and Hywind Scotland. Due to water depth, Hywind Scotland is a floating wind farm, so although Hywind is more robust, it is harder to maintain because of the weather conditions,
The wind turbines work best with wind speeds between 12-18 m/s and the blades have anemometers, so they move to find the best wind conditions, and ‘feather’ and stop if the gusts of wind are too strong. If a turbine is down, National Grid must be alerted, as this alters the estimates of energy that are generated for use. In order to fix the issues on the turbine, they either have a rope access team or if the whole blade needs fixing, then a jack up vessel and crane platform are utilised to
The Control Room use DTN and Stormgeo to monitor the weather forecasts, which is useful for predicting productivity and maintaining safety. Control room engineers monitor lightning risks. If lightning is approaching, they communicate this to those working on the turbines, allowing them enough time to get to safety. There are areas on the turbine that act as faraday cages. This is where anyone on the turbine must stay during lightning and for thirty minutes after the last strike. If another strike happens during this time the 30-minute wait restarts.
The Warehouse:
At the Great Yarmouth Operations & Maintenance Base spare parts for Sheringham Shoal and Dudgeon are stored in the warehouse. A colour coding system is used; Sheringham Shoal’s parts are labelled purple and Dudgeon’s are labelled blue. This is due to Dudgeon being outside of UK territorial waters, so parts need to have an export report filed.
Due to advancements in technology, Dudgeon turbines use a direct drive rather than a gearbox like at Sheringham Shoal. Direct drive is easier to fix and less likely to go wrong. This is reflected in the many more spare parts that are stored for Sheringham Shoal in comparison.
There is an area at the back of the warehouse called manifested cargo, which holds stock that is ready to be picked up and taken out to the wind farm by CTVs.
The small parts need to be kept in a humidity-controlled room, because electrical parts are susceptible to water molecules, that can penetrate component insulation, block voltage or corrode the chips.
In the warehouse survival kits are made up, which contain basic supplies like food and water. There is one on each turbine in case engineers get stuck on them for any reason to keep them safe until the SOV can pick them up.
Port Interface:
The port interface stores Personal Protection Equipment (PPE), which can be used by employees and visitors going into the warehouse or out onto the SOV.
As Dudgeon is outside of UK territorial waters, the port outside the Great Yarmouth O&M Base has restrictions similar to an airport. There are varying levels of International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) on the SOV and in the base. For example, Level 1 is the lowest so movement is less
controlled and only 10% of bags are searched. In comparison, Level 3 means no visitors can enter and 100% of bags are searched. A random number generator is used to decide whose bags are checked.
IN THE COMMUNITY
Equinor have two Community Benefit Funds in the East of England, which helps support many projects in local communities.
Sheringham Shoal Community Benefit Fund
The fund provides grants to North Norfolk community groups, including schools and charities. The bids need to meet key criteria and centre around renewable energy, marine environment and safety, sustainability or education in these areas.
Case Study - A Decade of Fieldwork by Fakenham Academy
The funding has enabled 200 students to gain valuable fieldwork experience, which provides them with a skill that could be used in future careers. Due to the project, there is 10 years of comparative beach transect data for Weybourne Beach.
Sheringham Shoal Offshore Wind Farm Community Fund
Dudgeon Community Benefit Fund
The fund provides grants to support educational STEM initiatives for the benefit of young people living in the Great Yarmouth, Breckland and North Norfolk districts of Norfolk.
Case Study - Lego Robotics Sheringham High School and Sixth Form
At Sheringham High School the grant helped set up a Lego Robotics Club, which gives children the chance to learn how to code. This skill is very important for the future workforce due to increases in technological advancements. The club provides opportunities for teamwork and participation in competitions. The winners of the tournament at the event involving Sheringham High School and Alderman Peel High School were given the chance to go to Estonia for the Robotex International Championships.
Dudgeon Offshore Wind Farm Community Fund
The Mo Museum
The Mo Museum in Sheringham has a visitors’ centre, which is funded by Equinor and provides the opportunity for people, particularly children and young people, to gain an outstanding about the offshore infrastructure on their doorstep. The museum has a great view of the turbines on a clear day. The Mo
ABOUT THE EXTENSION PROJECTS
The Planning Inspectorate Examination for the proposed Sheringham Shoal Extension Project (SEP) and Dudgeon Extension Project (DEP), concluded in July 2023. These projects are a joint development and the first to have combined consultation and Development Consent Order (DCO) submission. The proposal aims to double existing capacity to over 1.4 GW. Each SEP/DEP turbine could produce between 15 and 26 MW. The onshore cable will run from Weybourne to a new onshore substation that will be built to accommodate both SEP and DEP and is planned to be situated near the existing Norwich Main Substation. The cable corridor construction will take place in stages of 1km, each taking around 4 weeks to complete. Land will be reinstated to previous conditions and replanting of trees and hedgerows will be monitored for 10 years
Due to the extension projects, the job opportunities at the Great Yarmouth O&M Base could increase from 100 to 150. However, there will be many more jobs over the construction period with the Supply Chain.
ABOUT DOGGER BANK
The project is being carried out in three phases, Dogger Bank A, B and C.
Each turbine blade for Dogger Bank is 107m long which is double the wingspan of the Angel of the North!
The O&M Base is at the Port of Tyne.
There will be 277 wind turbines and the turbines are about the size of the Eiffel Tower.
Once all three phases are complete it will be the world’s largest operational wind farm, providing power up to 6 million homes, with each Haliade-X turbine rated at 13 megawatts.
This project is a joint venture partnership between Equinor (40%), SSE Renewables (40%) and Vårgrønn (20%).
Text developed by Martha Eaton (6th Form Summer Intern 2023).
