World’s largest offshore wind farm generates first power

• 2 years ago (2021-12-23)
• David Flin

Europe 1089 Offshore wind 121

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Ørsted ’s Hornsea 2, located 89 km off the east coast of the UK, has achieved first power after its offshore substation (OSS), the world’s largest offshore AC substation, and reactive compensation station (RCS) were installed in October.

When fully operational, which is scheduled to happen in 2022, Hornsea 2’s 165 Siemens Gamesa wind turbines, each of 8 MW, will be capable of generating 1.32 GW. The 1.2 GW Hornsea 1 wind farm is currently the world’s largest operational wind farm. Once Hornsea 2 is completed, power will be transferred from the 165 wind turbines via 373 km of array cables to the OSS and RCS, reaching the national grid via 390 km of offshore and 40 km of onshore export cables which terminate at the onshore substation in Killingholme.

Ørsted is developing two more projects in the Hornsea Zone. Hornsea 3 received a Development Consent Order in December 2020 and Hornsea 4 is currently going through the planning process.

Patrick Harnett, Programme Director for Hornsea 2, said: “Achieving first power is an important milestone for the project and a proud moment for the whole team. Constructing a project of this size and scale is only possible through strong collaboration, hard work, and dedication. From here, we have the finishing line in sight as we install the remaining turbines and continue testing, commissioning, and energising our wind farm into the new year.”