Hornsea Wind Farm Project Updates, UK

Home » News » Hornsea Wind Farm Project Updates, UK

The installation of onshore cables for the Hornsea 3 offshore wind farm will be handled by VolkerFitzpatrick after being appointed by Energy behemoth Ørsted. VolkerFitzpatrick and VolkerStevin will work together to complete the project which entails the installation of 240 km of onshore cables. The cables will link the offshore wind farm to the Norwich Main National Grid Substation from its landfall in Norfolk at Weybourne.

The contract will cover the civil work necessary for the cable installation, the National Grid connection, and the cable installation itself. in addition, it will cover the restoration of the land after the HVDC cables have been installed, including planting trees and hedgerows.

Hornsea 3 offshore wind farm contribution to the British Energy Security Strategy

With a 2,852 MW capacity, Hornsea 3 will contribute significantly to the UK Government’s goal of having 50 GW of offshore wind in operation by 2030. This goal is a part of the British Energy Security Strategy.

Electricity generated from the facility will be affordable, clean, and renewable. Additionally, it will be used to power approximately 3.2 million homes in the UK.

160 kilometers is the distance separating Hornsea 3 from the Yorkshire coast. The Hornsea zone of Ørsted, which consists of Hornsea 1, 2, and 3, will have a combined capacity of more than 5GW when it is completely operational. With the capacity to generate enough affordable, green, renewable electricity to power more than five million UK homes. This will be the largest offshore wind zone in the world.

Read Also: King power stadium expansion project plans move forward

Hornsea 3 offshore wind farm to supply sustainable energy at scale

According to Luke Bridgman, senior project director, “Hornsea 3 is also assisting the ongoing development of the UK supply chain. Additionally, it is supplying low-cost sustainable energy at scale. We will seek to share possibilities with UK suppliers and contractors to engage on this groundbreaking project. This will be through our collaborations with renowned industry experts, such as VolkerFitzpatrick.”

Richard Offord, chief executive officer of VolkerWessels UK, stated, “the team and I are thrilled that Ørsted has selected VolkerFitzpatrick. It will be assisted by VolkerStevin to install the onshore cables for the Hornsea 3 offshore wind farm.”

“We take pride in being able to contribute to this project our teams’ talents. This includes capabilities that have been honed over years of experience. Additionally, our reputation for effective teamwork and our ongoing support of the local community and supply chain.”

Project Overview

Hornsea Wind Farm is an under-construction Round 3 wind farm located in the North Sea, 120 km from the east coast of England. The wind farm started construction in 2018. The first phase was completed in January 2021, with a capacity of 1,218 MW making it the biggest in the world on its completion. Located in the North Sea 120 km from the east coast of England, the eventual wind farm group is set to have a total capacity of around 6 gigawatts (GW).

The scheme has been divided into a number of phases. The 1.2 GW Project 1 received planning consent in 2014, the 1.4 GW Project 2 was later given planning consent in 2016. Also in 2016, a third phase was further spilled into two phases Hornsea 3 and 4, having approximate capacities of 1–2 GW and 1 GW, which increased the capacity of the developed project to a maximum of 6 GW.

The Hornsea site is part of three off the British coast found in the North Sea, around halfway between Dogger Bank Wind Farm and East Anglia Wind Farm. The Hornsea site has a total area of 4,730 square kilometers and is 38 kilometers from the land at the closest point; water depth in the zone is from 22 to 73 meters, having a tidal range of 2 to 5 meters and a typical annual wave height of 1.35 to 1.78 meters.

The surface of the seabed primarily contains sands and gravel. Back in 2011, the Danish firm Ørsted A/S, earlier DONG Energy became a partner in SMart Wind. Later in 2015, Ørsted A/S was the 100% owner of the project’s first phase, Project 1. Ørsted acquired rights to the remaining phases of the Hornsea development (2 & 3) by 2015 August. In the next year, 2016, Ørsted arrived at an agreement with the Crown Estate for the Hornsea Two and Hornsea Three phases amended plans. This is when Hornsea Three was split into two new projects and the new phases were set to be developed in the 2020s.

Summary 

Name:                                 Hornsea Wind Farm

Type:                                   Offshore

Capacity:                             6 GW

Owner:                                Ørsted A/S

Start of Construction:            2018

Completion:                          2027

Read also: Karapınar Solar Power Project Timeline.

Hornsea Wind Farm Timeline

Hornsea Project Two wind farm consists of 165 Siemens Gamesa 8.0-167 DD turbines.

PROJECT ONE.

2016.

Construction of the onshore cable route began under J. Murphy & Sons. The wind farm was planned to be constructed between 2018 and 2020 and set to provide an annual production of around 4.1 terawatt-hours (TWh).

2018.

The new wind park’s first foundation was developed by DEME Group‘s subsidiary GeoSea in January. A subsidiary company of the Belgian DEME Group, Tideway Offshore Solutions installed the export cables. The installation work was completed in December 2018, months ahead of schedule.

2019.

Hornsea 1 started supplying power to the UK national electricity grid in February with full completion set in the first quarter of 2020. The final monopile foundation was completed in April and as of 3 May, 28 turbines out of 174 were installed.

Oct 2019

Construction of world’s largest offshore wind farm in the UK, nearly complete

The construction of the world’s largest offshore wind farm located on the east coast of Britain, approximately 120km off England’s Yorkshire coast is nearly complete.

The wind farm, which goes by the name of Hornsea One, upon completion in early 2020, will produce enough energy to supply 1 million UK homes with clean electricity for over 3 decades.

Also Read: Scottish Government funds the construction of world’s most powerful floating tidal turbine

An overview of the project

The project spans an area that’s bigger than the Maldives or Malta which measures 297.8 km² and 316 km² respectively and is located farther out to sea than any other wind farm in the world.

It consists of 174 seven-megawatt wind turbines that are 100m tall each. The blades have a circumference of 75m and cover an area larger than Europe’s tallest cantilevered observation wheel (London Eye) as they turn.

According to Stefan Hoonings, the senior project manager at Orsted (DOGEF), the Danish energy company that is building the farm, one of these turbines can power the average home in the UK for an entire day with only a single rotation.

The Hornsea One project will take the United Kingdom closer to hitting its target of deriving a third, 33% to be precise, of the country’s electricity from offshore wind only, by the year 2030.

Three more phases of the Hornsea project are on the cards.

Sources of UK’s electricity

Currently, the United Kingdom receives 33% of electricity from renewable sources of energy; mostly onshore wind. Along with nuclear, low-carbon electricity makes up 52% of Britain’s total, and only 5% comes from coal.

PROJECT TWO.

2020.
The construction commenced. The selected area was to the east and north of Hornsea One and the specification was set as 165 8 MW turbines offering a rated capacity of 1.4 GW.

2021.

As of April, a third of the turbine foundations were installed and the remaining turbines are set to be fixed in the second half of the year. When operational in 2022, Hornsea Project 2 will take over from Hornsea One as the largest offshore wind farm in the world. The first turbine was installed by the end of May and on 23 June Ørsted revealed that the 16th turbine to be installed to the Hornsea Two array was the 1,000th turbine they had fixed in UK waters, fifteen years since they installed their first.

In October, Ørsted completed the installation of the Hornsea Two Offshore Substation and all 165 wind turbine foundations in the North Sea.

Nov 2021

Ørsted first customer for SeAH Wind Limited monopile foundations

Ørsted has revealed a multi-million-pound agreement to become the first and lead customer for SeAH Wind Limited monopile foundations made at the planned UK facility of SeAH Wind Limited. The facility is SeAH Steel Holdings (SeAH) subsidiary based in the UK.

On the multi-million-pound agreement, SeAH will be the main supplier of monopiles for Hornsea Three offshore wind farm, producing them from a factory at Able Marine Energy Park, on the Humber. The site is capable of manufacturing the extra-large monopiles needed for the new generation of larger wind turbine designs.

SeAH expects to start manufacturing operations in 2023. The dialogue is ongoing over the final number of monopiles to be provided by SeAH’s new facility to Hornsea Three. The deal, for getting a Contract for Difference and Final Investment Decision (FID) for the wind farm, will play a great role in triggering the manufacturing of monopiles in the UK. SeAH Wind Ltd in July 2021 got a £260 million ($351 million) FID for the Humber new factory, which will be connected with a grant from the UK government.

Read also: Sellafield Ltd awards the remaining term of the Infrastructure Strategic Alliance (ISA)

Tackling Climate Change

The Minister for Energy, Clean Growth, and Climate Change, Greg Hands, stated: “Today’s multi-million-pound consensus between Ørsted and SeAH Wind for SeAH Wind Limited monopile foundations is a good example of industry cooperation and a great vote of confidence in the Humber region. The multi-million-pound agreement demonstrates the commitment to tackling climate change and supporting unlock investment in the UK as we grow back greener.”

Hornsea Three was granted permission in December last year and will be Ørsted’s UK fleet offshore wind farms’ latest version with a capacity of around 2.4GW. When completed, the scheme will be able to provide clean electricity to over two million UK households. The Head of Region UK at Ørsted, Duncan Clark stated: “The Hornsea Three team has partnered extensively with SeAH Wind to help their investment decision to develop a new, globally competitive monopile foundations factory across the UK.

December 2021

Hornsea 2 Wind Farm Officially Starts Producing Power

Days before Christmas, the power started flowing from Hornsea 2 wind farm on UK’s east coast. It is set to be the world’s largest offshore wind farm after full completion. The expansion of onshore wind has slowed down, but offshore is very much growing, and some huge projects are being considered and developed.

After completion, Hornsea 2 will incorporate 165 Siemens Gamesa wind turbines, having a peak capacity of 8 MW each. Most of the turbines are yet to be installed, but substations for the offshore together with the corresponding equipment for smoothing fluctuations were all completed in October. The wind farm developer, Ørsted, revealed that power had started flowing from the first turbines shortly before Christmas.

Read also: Southern Rail hunts firms for Southern Integrated Delivery model.

World’s largest offshore wind farm.

Having a capacity of 1,320 MW (equivalent to 1.3 million typical UK homes) Hornsea 2 will overtake the neighboring Hornsea 1 to become the world’s largest offshore wind farm. Hornsea 1 comprises smaller but more numerous turbines, with a capacity totaling 1,218 MW.

The Hornsea 2 news coincides with Jiangsu Qidong, China’s largest offshore wind farm, which was also connected to the grid at full capacity on Christmas Day. Jiangsu Qidong has a total capacity of 802 MW, being the two Hornsea phases, but twice as big as the next largest offshore wind farm existing outside northern Europe.

Where North American and European wind farms normally standardize by use of a single size and make of turbine for cost-saving, Jiangsu Qidong went in the opposite direction, using seven models from four manufacturers. Both Hornsea and Jiangsu Qidong won’t compare to the giant wind farms under development in Denmark and South Korea, and also the giant off Iceland. Hornsea’s third stage is also set to leave them behind when constructed.

It will have a power capacity of 2,400 MW.

PROJECT THREE.

The project is expected to begin construction in 2022, and be completed by 2025.

PROJECT FOUR.

Construction of the wind farm is set to start in 2023, and operational by 2027, at the earliest. The project’s capacity is unknown by Ørsted due to the always increasing size of available wind turbines for the scheme

Late December 2021

Dredging, Environmental and Marine Engineering (DEME) NV Offshore’s jack-up Sea Installer left the Port of Hull loaded with the last batch of turbine components to be installed at the 1.32 GW Hornsea Two.

The Sea Installer together with its sister vessel, Sea Challenger, has been transporting the wind farm’s 165 Siemens Gamesa 8.4 MW turbines from Siemens Gamesa’s facilities in Hull and installing them at the project.

March 2022

Geotechnical survey campaign at Hornsea Three offshore wind project to begin in April, United Kingdom

Starting in April, Ørsted will begin a geotechnical survey campaign at the Hornsea Three offshore wind project in the United Kingdom. The 90-meter-long survey vessel Connector Express will begin the survey on 1 April off the coast of East Yorkshire, and work is expected to take roughly 70 days. The completion date is set for May 31, although the precise date depends on mobilization time, weather, and work progress.

Fugro, a Dutch multinational public company headquartered in Leidschendam, the Netherlands, that specializes in collecting and analyzing geological data, both on land and at sea, was granted the by Ørsted the contract to conduct geotechnical site investigations at the Hornsea Three and Hornsea Four offshore wind projects.

Ørsted is a Danish multinational power company based in Fredericia, Denmark, that in 2015, purchased the rights to develop the Hornsea zone, which includes four projects, from SMart Wind. The latter had earned the development rights in the UK Round 3 offshore wind auction.

The development license for the 2.4 GW Hornsea Three was granted by the UK Secretary of State for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) on December 31, 2020.

Aug 2022

Hornsea Wind Farm Two to Strat Operations Soon

The 1.3 GW Hornsea Two in the UK is currently the largest single operational offshore wind farm in the world. The project has all wind turbines fully commissioned and is commercially operational. After the final reliability runs are completed, the project’s owner and developer, Ørsted, anticipates that the wind farm will be fully commissioned later this month.

The 1,320 MW Hornsea Two produced its first electricity in December 2021, however by the end of the month, construction had slowed. Up until mid-December, according to Ørsted’s 2021 annual report, progress was being made as planned, but due to the Omicron variant infection rates rising, it was no longer possible to staff the vessels utilized for commissioning work as planned.

Read Also: Redevelopment of Spindles Town Square Shopping Centre, England, begins

Commissioning of the 1.3 GW Hornsea Two

The developer indicated at the time that project commissioning was still anticipated for the first half of this year, as planned, and that it will soon sell off half of its interest in Hornsea Two. However, the Q2 2022 earnings of Ørsted now include the delays in getting the wind farm into full commercial operation.

In particular, the business stated that the negative effects of overhedging and inefficient hedges as a result of the project’s later than anticipated commissioning partially offset the increase in earnings from its operating wind and solar assets.

According to the developer’s Q2 report, the “negative effect” has amounted to about EUR 269 million. More than 1.3 million homes will be able to be powered by the wind farm’s 165 Siemens Gamesa 8 MW wind turbines. It is located 89 km off the coast of Yorkshire.

When Hornsea Two becomes formally online, it will succeed the 1.2 GW Hornsea One as the largest operating offshore wind farm in the world. Hornsea One was also created by Ørsted and has been in service since 2020.