Hornsea 3 Offshore Wind Farm Will Achieve an Energy Output of 2.9 GW

[By: Sarens]

The new wind farm, located 120 km off the Norfolk coast and 160 km off the Yorkshire coast, will be the single largest offshore wind project in the world with a surface area of 696 km2 and up to 231 turbines.

Sarens will work together with Aibel to assemble the two HVDC converter platforms at the Maptaphut facility in Rayong (Thailand), from where they will be transported to Haugesund to be equipped with Hitachi Energy's latest generation HVDC converter valve technology prior to final completion and commissioning.

The new Hornsea 3 offshore wind farm, located 120 km off the Norfolk coast and 160 km off the Yorkshire coast, will become, once commissioned in 2027, the largest offshore wind project in the world with up to 231 turbines, 696 km2 of occupied area and a clean electricity production of 2.9 GW, which will be enough to supply more than 3.3 million homes in the UK.

Sarens, world leader in heavy lifting, engineered transport and crane rental, is working with Aibel on the construction of the wind farm's two HVDC (high-voltage direct current) converter platforms at Aibel's facilities in Maptaphut, Rayong (Thailand). These units will be key to ensuring the performance of the wind farm, as they are the units responsible for transmitting large amounts of electricity over long distances, once the electricity produced by the wind turbines has been converted into alternating current.

This new facility, which will be operated by Ørsted, joins the two previous phases, which came on stream in 2019 and 2022 respectively. These two farms already contribute more than 2.5 GW of renewable energy to the UK grid, benefiting nearly 2.5 million homes.

For this operation, scheduled from January 2024 to the first quarter of 2025, Sarens transported two CC2800-1 crane units, each with a capacity of 600 tons, from its facility. Both cranes will collaborate in lifitng Section S210 weighing, 273 tons, and Section S220 weighing ,388.7 tons to their final positions,  completing the module. As a preliminary step, the cranes were positioned on steel mats for crawl and stack the section on the surface , ensuring the operation’s security, precise crane movements, and preventing damage to both the material and operators in the vicinity.”.

When the wind farm comes online, Ørsted’s Hornsea trio – comprising Hornsea 1, 2, and 3 – will have a total capacity of in excess of 5 GW, making it the world’s largest operating offshore wind zone. The Hornsea zone will also include Ørsted’s Hornsea 4 project, which could have a capacity of up to 2.6 GW. Hornsea 4 received its development consent order from the UK government earlier in 2023 and is now eligible for forthcoming CfD allocation rounds.

Sarens has extensive international experience in the assembly and maintenance of wind farms. It has participated in various installations in France such as Fécamp, Saint Nazaire, Provence Grand Large in the lifting and transport work for the foundation bases of the new offshore wind farm in Saint Brieuc, located off the Brittany coast. During this project,  Sarens successfully  transported loads weighing over 1,150 tons. More recently, Sarens has worked in the receiving and loading out the monopiles and transition pieces for 176 turbines for the Coastal Virginia Offshore Windfarm.