World’s largest offshore wind farm generates first power

The Hornsea 2 project, set to become the world’s largest operating offshore wind farm when construction is complete, has begun generating first power, according to developer Ørsted.

Construction continues at the 1.32GW Hornsea 2 offshore wind farm, but first power has already been generated after the installation and commissioning of the offshore substation – the largest offshore AC substation in the world – and the reactive compensation station.

Hornsea 2 will ultimately play host to 165 of Siemens Gamesa 8MW wind turbines, taking the title of ‘world’s largest operating offshore wind farm’ from its sibling project, the 1.2GW Hornsea 1 offshore wind farm.

Both are located 89-kilometres off the UK’s east coast, and linked to the shore via, in the case of Hornsea 2, 390-kilometres of offshore and 40-kilometres of onshore export cables which terminate at the onshore substation in Killingholme in Lincolnshire, England.

“Achieving first power is an important milestone for the project and a proud moment for the whole team,” said Patrick Harnett, program director for Hornsea 2.

“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.”

Two other projects in the Hornsea Zone are also underway, Hornsea 3 which received a Development Consent Order in 2020 and is expected to be capable of generating at least 2.4GW.

There is also the Hornsea 4 project which is currently in the planning process and could locate up to 180 wind turbines, offering could result in a wind farm anywhere between 1.8GW and 2.7GW, based on current wind turbine sizes available.

“Climate change is one of the biggest threats facing the world today, and we believe that the solution lies in deploying renewable energy resources on a much larger scale than anything we have seen so far,” said Duncan Clark, Head of Region UK at Ørsted.