ABB Hits Hornsea One Jackpot

Swiss power and automation technology group ABB has won an order worth more than USD 250 million from DONG Energy to deliver a 220-kilovolt high-voltage cable system that will connect the 1.2GW Hornsea Project One offshore wind farm in the North Sea to the UK mainland grid.

ABB will supply alternating current (AC) submarine cable systems for the Eastern and Western circuit, which will transmit power across a distance of around 120 kilometers from the wind farm to the east coast of the UK.

The wind farm connection is scheduled for commissioning in 2019.

“High-voltage cable links are playing a key role in transmitting clean power to millions of people, efficiently and reliably” said Claudio Facchin, President of ABB’s Power Grids division.

“This is another example of how ABB technologies enable the integration of renewable energy and lower environmental impact, a key element of the company’s Next Level strategy.”

Covering over 400 square kilometers, Hornsea Project One will be the world’s largest capacity offshore wind farm, bringing clean electricity to well over one million UK households. DONG reached a Final Investment Decision to build the giant wind farm in February 2016.

“Hornsea Project One is record-breaking in terms of scale of energy production, physical size and its distance from shore, and we have worked together with ABB to find the best technical and commercial solutions. This joint approach has helped create the right solutions for this large and challenging project and has also enabled us to drive the lifetime costs in the right direction for the next generation of offshore wind sites,” said Duncan Clark, Programme Director for Hornsea Project One at DONG Energy.

This is the third project that ABB will execute for DONG Energy, following the Burbo Bank Extension and Walney Extension links in the Irish Sea.

Photo and infographic: ABB