Ørsted Greenlights 2.9 GW Hornsea 3 Offshore Wind Farm

December 21, 2023, by Adnan Memija

Ørsted has taken the final investment decision (FID) on what the company says is the world’s single largest offshore wind farm, the 2.9 GW Hornsea 3, which is expected to be completed around the end of 2027.

In July 2022, Ørsted was awarded a contract for difference (CfD) for Hornsea 3 at an inflation-indexed strike price of GBP 37.35 per MWh in 2012 prices.

The CfD framework permits a reduction of the awarded CfD capacity. The company said it will use this flexibility to submit a share of Hornsea 3’s capacity into the UK’s upcoming allocation round 6.

“Offshore wind is an extremely competitive global market, so we also welcome the attractive policy regime in the UK which has helped secure this investment. We look forward to constructing this landmark project, which will deliver massive amounts of green energy to UK households and businesses and will be a significant addition to the world’s largest offshore wind cluster,” said Mads Nipper, Group President and CEO of Ørsted.

According to Ørsted, most of Hornsea 3’s capital expenditure was contracted before recent inflationary pressures, securing competitive prices from the supply chain, adding that the larger wind turbines and the synergies with Hornsea 1 and 2 lead to lower operating costs

Ørsted said that it awarded all major contracts for Hornsea 3, including a deal with Siemens Gamesa for 14 MW turbines excluding power boost and with SeAH Wind to be the first customer at the company’s monopile factory in Teesside.

Cadeler will be responsible for the installation of monopile foundations and for the installation of around half of the wind turbines at the offshore wind farm located 160 kilometres off the Yorkshire coast,

Hellenic Cables and Prysmian Group also signed a contract with Ørsted for the inter-array cables, while the export cables will be supplied by NKT.

The two platforms for the 2.9 GW wind project will be delivered by Aibel and Hitachi Energy.

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Hornsea 3 will support up to 5,000 jobs during its construction phase, with up to a further 1,200 permanent jobs both directly and in the supply chain in the long operational phase.

Ørsted is already operating the 1.2 GW Hornsea 1 and 1.3 GW Hornsea 2 offshore wind farms in the Hornsea zone out of its operations and maintenance hub in Grimsby on the east coast of England.

When Hornsea 3 comes online, Ørsted’s Hornsea trio will have a total capacity of in excess of 5 GW, making it the world’s largest operating offshore wind zone.

The Hornsea zone will also include the Hornsea 4 project, which could have a capacity of up to 2.6 GW. The wind farm received its development consent order from the UK government earlier in 2023 and is now eligible for forthcoming CfD allocation rounds.