Hornsea 2, the world’s largest windfarm, enters full operation

The wind farm is situated alongside its sibling Hornsea 1, which together can power 2.5 million homes and make a significant contribution to the UK Government’s ambition of having 50 GW offshore wind in operation by 2030. 

The Hornsea zone, an area of the North Sea covering more than 2,000 km2, is also set to include Hornsea 3. The 2.8 GW project is planned to follow Hornsea 2 having been awarded a contract for difference from the UK government earlier this year.

Hornsea 2 has played a key role in the ongoing development of a larger and sustainably competitive UK supply chain to support the next phase of the UK’s offshore wind success story. In the past five years alone, Ørsted has placed major contracts with nearly 200 UK suppliers. Ørsted has invested GBP 4.5 billion in the UK supply chain to date and expects to make another GBP 8.6 billion of UK supply chain investments over the next decade.

Ørsted now has 13 operational offshore wind farms in the UK, providing 6.2GW of renewable electricity for the UK – enough to power more than 7 million homes. Hornsea 2 makes a significant contribution to Ørsted’s global ambition of installing 30 GW offshore wind by 2030. Ørsted currently has approx. 8.9 GW offshore wind in operation, approx. 2.2 GW under construction, and another approx. 11 GW of awarded capacity under development including Hornsea 3. 

Duncan Clark, Head of Region UK at Ørsted, said: "The UK is truly a world leader in offshore wind and the completion of Hornsea 2 is a tremendous milestone for the offshore wind industry, not just in the UK but globally. 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 its energy supply and drive down costs for consumers by reducing dependence on expensive fossil fuels.”

He continued: “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. We look forward to working with government and industry colleagues to continue to accelerate the deployment of offshore wind for the benefit of homes and businesses across the country.”
 
Just over a year ago, Ørsted announced its 1000th turbine in UK water and welcomed a state-of-the-art new service operations vessel to its fleet, Wind of Hope. 

Facts about Hornsea 2 Offshore Wind Farm

• 165 wind turbines delivering 1.3 GW of renewable electricity
• The wind farm spans an area of 462 km2 – equal to more than 64,000 football fields
• Each wind turbine blade is 81m long and the blade tip reaches more than 200m above sea level
• One revolution of the wind turbine blades can power an average UK home for 24 hours
• 390km of subsea export cables take the power generated from Hornsea 2 to the shore at Horseshoe Point in Lincolnshire