Offshore construction has now begun at what will become the world’s biggest windfarm, Hornsea Project One.
The first of 174 monopiles have been installed at the site, located 120km off the Yorkshire coast. When fully operational, expected in 2020, the wind farm which is being developed by Ørsted, will produce enough power for well over one million homes.
The installation is being carried out by GeoSea’s installation vessel, Innovation. It will carry up to four monopiles at a time, each one is 65m long, weighs around 800t and has a diameter of 8.1m.
In March Innovation will be joined by A2Sea’s vessel Sea Installer which will share the task of transition piece installation.
Duncan Clark, programme director for the project, said: “After years of planning and preparation it is fantastic to see the initial stages of offshore construction begin. My thanks to the teams working day and night on this significant milestone.
“Onshore alongside substation and cable installation, we are now developing the East Coast Hub which will serve as an operations and maintenance base for our existing wind farms in the area and both Hornsea Project One, and Project Two for which we took a final investment decision on last year. These wind farms will not only greatly contribute to the UK’s goal of decarbonising our energy system, they are also bringing jobs and investment to Grimsby and the North East.”
Ørsted, formerly DONG Energy, is the world’s leading offshore wind farm developer. The UK is its largest market and the company has two operational wind farms off the east coast; Westermost Rough and Lincs. Race Bank, nearing the end of construction, will be officially opened later this year. Hornsea Projects One and Two will follow, and combined will generate enough clean electricity for well over 2.3 million UK homes.
ABOUT Ørsted
Ørsted is a renewable energy company that takes tangible action to create a world that runs entirely on green energy. Ørsted develops, constructs and operates offshore wind farms across Europe, Asia and the US, develops and operates bioenergy plants, innovative waste-to-energy solutions and provides smart energy products to its power distribution and energy customers. Headquartered in Denmark, Ørsted employs 5,800 people worldwide, including over 900 in the UK. Ørsted’s shares are listed on Nasdaq Copenhagen [Orsted]. In 2016, the company’s revenue was DKK 61 bn (EUR 8.2 bn).
For further information, see orsted.co.uk or follow us @OrstedUK on Twitter.
