UK’s Hornsea 3 offshore wind farm contracts handed out

United Kingdom – Ørsted has awarded contracts for the construction of the Hornsea 3 offshore wind farm, which can produce up to 2.852 GW of clean energy, enough to power more than 3 million UK homes on a daily basis.

Two platforms for the Hornsea 3 project were purchased from Aibel under a contract. Aibel is responsible for engineering, procurement, construction, and installation in the delivery of two HVDC converter platforms under the terms of the EPCI contract.

Lean platforms with a steel jacket structure will be used. The unmanned platforms will be controlled from land, and SOVs (Service Operations Vessels) or helicopters will provide access for maintenance. The two platforms will be able to support the Hornsea 3 project’s offshore wind turbines with a combined capacity of up to 2.852 GW.

Aibel – Heerema deal

For the Hornsea 3 offshore wind farm, Heerema Marine Contractors was contracted by Aibel to transport and install two offshore converter stations (OCS). The two OCS topsides, eight skirt piles, and two OCS jackets will all be transported and installed as part of this project. In order to ensure that the jackets are fixed to the seabed, Heerema will perform offshore lifting of the jackets onto the seabed prior to installing the piles. The topsides will be attached to the jackets after the jacket installation is finished, completing the OCS.

Hitachi Energy

A significant order for two high-voltage direct current (HVDC) systems to transmit clean electricity from the Hornsea 3 wind farm was also awarded to Hitachi Energy by Ørsted.

Delivery of the entire HVDC system—including the offshore platform—takes place in collaboration with Aibel. There will be two HVDC Light converter systems provided by Hitachi Energy. The platform is based on the modular HVDC system from Hitachi Energy, which includes MACH, an advanced control and protection system.

Hornsea 3

The location of Hornsea 3 will be in the North Sea, roughly 120 km and 160 km off the coasts of Norfolk and Yorkshire, respectively. Up to 231 offshore wind turbines will be a part of the project, which can produce up to 2.852 GW of clean electricity.