Orsted pushes ahead with mega offshore wind farm

The news: Danish wind developer, Orsted, announced its plans to move forward with building what will be the world’s largest wind farm off the UK coast.

The numbers: Orsted has taken a positive final investment decision to progress with its 2.9GW capacity Hornsea 3 project, which will supply power to 3.3 million UK homes. The British Energy Security Strategy seeks to have 50GW of offshore wind capacity in operation by 2030. Hornsea 3 is expected to be completed by 2027.

The context: Orsted was awarded a contract-for-difference to build Hornsea 3 in 2022 before the cost of borrowing began to surge, casting doubt on whether the company would be able to make the project financially viable.

Located 160km off the Yorkshire coast, the Hornsea 1, 2, and 3 projects will have a total capacity of over 5GW, making it the world’s largest offshore wind zone. The zone will also include the Hornsea 4 project (2.6GW capacity), which received development consent from the UK government earlier this year.