The second of two offshore converter stations for Ørsted’s Hornsea 3 wind farm have now been installed in the North Sea, marking another construction milestone for what is set to be the world’s largest single offshore wind farm.
The stations will convert and transport electricity generated by Hornsea 3, which is planned to be the world’s largest single offshore wind farm.
Each station consists of a jacket fixed to the seabed and a topside containing high-voltage equipment. The second jacket has been designed for deeper water, standing in 37m compared with 32m for the first station. It is 60m tall and, like the first station, reaches about 70m above sea level, ensuring they remain clear of the waves.
The jackets were designed and fabricated by Heerema Fabrication Group in Vlissingen, Netherlands, while the topsides were built in Thailand. The topsides then travelled more than 13,000 nautical miles to Haugesund, Norway, for high-voltage equipment installation and commissioning.
Heerema Marine Contractors carried out the transport and offshore installation, with Aibel, Hitachi Energy and other contractors involved in the project.
Luke Bridgman, managing director of Hornsea 3 at Ørsted, said the installation was “an incredible feat of engineering” and reflected collaboration between the companies involved.
He said the design, transport and installation of the two converter stations had taken four and a half years and involved “many thousands of skilled workers”.
Hornsea 3 is being developed by Ørsted and is intended to form a major part of the UK’s offshore wind capacity. The installation of both converter stations brings another major element of the project’s offshore infrastructure into place.
