Hornsea 3, for which Ørsted has now signed off the final investment decision, will have a capacity of 2.9 GW and is expected to be completed around the end of 2027 at a cost of £8bn.
Up to 231 wind turbines will be installed within a 696 km2 area, 160 km off the Yorkshire coast and 120 km off the Norfolk coast.
Hornsea 3 will be Ørsted’s third gigawatt-scale project in the Hornsea zone following Hornsea 1 (1.2 GW) and Hornsea 2 (1.3 GW), which are already being operated out of Ørsted’s operations and maintenance hub in Grimsby.
Ørsted’s Hornsea trio – comprising Hornsea 1, 2, and 3 – will have a total capacity of more than 5GW, making it the world’s largest operating offshore wind zone.
Hornsea 3 is expected to support up to 5,000 jobs during its construction phase.
Ørsted has already announced a series of supplier contracts – including an agreement for Hornsea 3 to be the first and lead customer at SeAH Wind’s monopile factory in Teesside, underpinning the Korean company’s decision to set up a monopile factory in the UK.
Ørsted was awarded a contract for difference (CfD) for Hornsea 3 by the government back in July 2022, at an inflation-indexed strike price of GBP 37.35 per MWh in 2012 prices. The CfD framework permits a reduction of the awarded CfD capacity. Ørsted will use this flexibility to submit a share of Hornsea 3’s capacity into the UK’s upcoming allocation round 6.
Ørsted said that most of the capital expenditure for Hornsea 3 was contracted ahead of recent inflationary pressures “securing competitive prices from the supply chain and allowing time to work collaboratively on value creation opportunities”.
All major contracts for Hornsea 3 are already in place, including an agreement with Siemens Gamesa for SG 14-236 DD offshore wind turbines. “The larger wind turbines and the synergies with Hornsea 1 and 2 lead to lower operating costs than we have seen before in our portfolio,” Ørsted said.
Mads Nipper, group president and CEO of Ørsted, said: “By applying our world-leading capabilities within offshore wind innovation, engineering, operations, procurement, and financing, we’ve been able to mature the world’s largest offshore wind project and take final investment decision. Offshore wind is an extremely competitive global market, so we also welcome the attractive policy regime in the UK which has helped secure this investment. We look forward to constructing this landmark project, which will deliver massive amounts of green energy to UK households and businesses and will be a significant addition to the world’s largest offshore wind cluster.”
Duncan Clark, head of Ørsted UK & Ireland, added: “Hornsea 3 will be a cornerstone in achieving the UK government’s climate and clean energy targets while increasing energy independence and creating local jobs. Our decision to build Hornsea 3 is a vote of confidence in the UK market for offshore wind, as we continue to invest significantly in UK clean energy infrastructure and in the UK supply chain.”
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