World’s largest wind farm begins full operation off the coast of Yorkshire

The world’s largest completed wind farm, the 1.3GW Hornsea 2 project off the coast of Yorkshire, is now in full operation, according to its developer, the Danish energy giant Ørsted.

The Hornsea 2 project won a contract in an auction held by the UK government in 2017 and construction began in 2020. It began first generation from the 165 8MW turbines from Siemens Gamesa in December last year, and now is in full operation.

“The completion of Hornsea 2 is a tremendous milestone for the offshore wind industry, not just in the UK but globally,” said Duncan Clark, head of region UK at Ørsted.

“Current global events highlight more than ever the importance of landmark renewable energy projects like Hornsea 2, helping the UK increase the security and resilience of our energy supply and drive down costs for consumers by reducing our dependence on expensive fossil fuels.

The project is located near the 1.2GW Hornsea 1 which completed construction back in late-2019, and will be trumped by the 2.8GW Hornsea 3 project that will be built after Ørsted won a new contract in July. Another stage, Hornsea 4, is also in development.

“Not only will Hornsea 2 provide low cost, clean energy for millions of homes in the UK, it has also delivered thousands of high-quality jobs and billions of pounds of investment in the UK’s offshore wind supply chain,” Clark said in his statement.