Minister welcomes Orsted's ops launch on world's largest offshore wind farm

Hornsea One team now working in the field - 120km off the East Yorkshire coast

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David LaisterBusiness Editor (Humber)

05:00, 7 JUN 2019

Edda Mistral service operation vessel being prepared for the first operations voyage in Grimsby. (Image: Orsted)

Energy and Clean Growth Minister Chris Skidmore has welcomed the first operations at Hornsea One offshore wind farm, the multi-billion pound investment that is helping bringing hundreds of jobs and a world record to Grimsby.

Service operation vessel Edda Mistral sailed with her dedicated crew on the first voyage of its kind last weekend, as electricity is generated while the build out of what will become the largest wind farm yet continues.聽

The teams will spend a fortnight in the field before returning to owner operator Orsted鈥檚 East Coast Hub on Grimsby鈥檚 Royal Dock.

Mr Skidmore said: 鈥淭he start of operations at the world鈥檚 largest wind farm at Hornsea One is an important milestone and yet another example of British innovation and the 海角视频鈥檚 leadership in offshore wind.

Energy and Clean Growth Minister Chris Skidmore. (Image: Michael Lloyd Photography)

鈥淲e already have the largest installed offshore wind capacity in the world, and once fully up and running this wind farm will provide enough power for one million more homes, putting us well on the way to our target of a third of the 海角视频鈥檚 electricity coming from offshore wind by 2030.鈥�

Hornsea One is a step-change in size of wind farms, around double the power of the current world鈥檚 largest, Walney Extension.

It is located 120km off the Humber approaches, the furthest from shore a wind farm has ever been built.

The team has incorporated many innovations and 鈥渨orld firsts鈥� due to the project鈥檚 scale and distance, including helicopter refuelling.

When complete, Hornsea One offshore wind farm will have 174 turbines, each able to power a home for 29 hours with just one spin. (Image: Orsted)

Two 32-strong teams will work on a shift-system, and will be responsible for operating and maintaining the wind farm, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, throughout its 25-year life-span, liaising with the team back in Grimsby, manufacturer Siemens Gamesa and others.

The huge scale of the project means that operations are beginning before construction is complete. More than 50 of the 174 Siemens Gamesa 7MW turbines are operational, and turbine installation is expected to continue until late summer.

That means Grimsby鈥檚 installed capacity now stands at more than 1.8GW.

Next up is Hornsea Two, which will eclipse Hornsea One. Initial work on cabling is already underway, and the offshore element will follow the first farm in the zone's completion.