The Hornsea 2 wind farm, an initiative of the Danish firm Ørsted, a renewable energy company, is now fully operational and joins Hornsea 1, along which are expected to power 2.5 million homes and make a significant contribution to the UK government's ambition to have 50 GW of offshore wind power in operation by 2030.

Located 89 km off the coast of Yorkshire, UK, in an area of the North Sea covering more than 2,000 square kilometres, the power complex is expected to generate 1.3 GW of power, through 165 turbines. Likewise, it paves the way for Hornsea 3, an initiative with which the Danish firm and the British government hope to generate 2.8 GW.

The 19.6 GW #offshorewind target set at the Baltic Sea Energy Security Summit in Denmark is an important step for the renewable energy transition. We're ready! pic.twitter.com/7fLHwVE9VG

— Ørsted (@Orsted) August 31, 2022

Ørsted's Expansion

The Danish firm, which currently has 13 operational offshore wind farms in the UK, providing 6.2 GW of renewable electricity, enough to power more than 7 million homes, has stood out in the last 5 years by signing contracts with almost 200 suppliers in that country with an investment close to $5.2 billion.

Ørsted has approximately 8.9 GW of offshore wind power in operation, with some 2.2 GW under construction, and a further 11 GW of awarded capacity under development, including Hornsea 3.

Patrick Harnett, Vice President UK Programme of Ørsted, stated: “This project has been an amazing endeavour. To build the world’s largest offshore windfarm during a global pandemic has been a challenge that the team have overcome with flying colours. I am so proud of how our team has worked together to safely deliver this remarkable project. A huge thank you to all those involved in making it happen.”

Key Facts About Hornsea 2

These are the most relevant aspects of this new clean energy megaproject:

• 165 turbines delivering 1.3GW of renewable electricity
• The wind farm spans an area of 462 sq. km – equal to more than 64,000 football pitches or 31 Lake Windermeres
• Each turbine blade is 81m long and the blade tip reaches more than 200m above sea level
• One revolution of the 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

“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,” highlighted Duncan Clark, Head of Region UK at Ørsted.