Equinor and SSE have announced a financial close on the first two phases of the world’s largest offshore wind farm project – the Dogger Bank in the UK North Sea.

Capital expenditure for the first two phases will total about £6 billion (€6.7 billion), including offshore transmission Capex of about £800 million for each phase.

The developers described the finance package as the “largest offshore wind project financing” ever.

“Reaching financial close on the two first phases of Dogger Bank is a major milestone, demonstrating our commitment to profitable growth within offshore wind,” said Pål Eitrheim, Equinor’s executive vice president of the Norwegian oil major’s New Energy Solutions division.

“The extensive interest from lenders underpins the attractiveness of UK offshore wind assets and confidence in SSE and Equinor.”

Dogger Bank will consist of three 1.2GW phases, with the first two due to be built simultaneously to take advantage of the synergies resulting from their proximity and use of common technology and contractors.