Dudgoen offshore wind farm operator Statoil has awarded two contracts to Siemens plc worth £516m for the engineering, supply, assembly, commissioning and service of 67 wind turbine generators for the scaled-down project.

The wind turbine generator (WTG) supply contract will cover engineering, procurement, assembly and offshore commissioning for the £1.5bn project off the coast of Cromer. Each turbine (6.0 MW) consists of a tower section, a nacelle and three separate rotor blades (154-metre rotor diameter). The engineering work will commence this month and contributes to design development of the project's design work for foundations and electrical infrastructure. The first batch of turbines shall be ready for load out and installation in January 2017. The service contract will cover operations and maintenance of the WTGs through the first two years after installation is completed, followed by three years where Siemens plc provides Dudgeon with technicians and other agreed services.

Statoil renewable energy senior vice president Siri Espedal Kindem said this was a significant milestone for the Dudgeon offshore wind project and its owners.

'The new turbine contract will secure planned progress in the Dudgeon project towards full operation during 2017,' he said. Technology development is fundamental to optimising offshore wind industry costs and solutions, and the use of new large turbines such as these is a main contributor to reducing offshore wind costs.'

The Dudgeon Offshore Wind Farm is Statoil's second full-scale commercial offshore wind project, and a key project in Norfolk. Following a successful partnership in developing the Sheringham Shoal Offshore Wind Farm off the coast of North Norfolk, Statoil and Statkraft are working together to develop Dudgeon. Once in operation, the wind farm will provide renewable energy to approximately 400,000 households in the UK market.