Singapore's Sembcorp Marine has completed the construction of substations for Ørsted's Hornsea Two offshore wind farm in the UK.
The two substations, the Offshore Substation (OSS) and Reactive Compensation Station (RCS), set off on a voyage to the Hornsea Two offshore wind farm from Sembcorp Marine Admiralty Yard Sunday, aboard a heavy transportation vessel.
According to Sembcorp Marine, the OSS is the largest AC offshore substation. The two substations have a combined weight of 10,200 tonnes.
Apart from fabrication, Sembcorp Marine was responsible for engineering and procurement and will be responsible for hook-up and commissioning works for the substations.
Located in the North Sea some 89 km off the Yorkshire Coast, Hornsea Two spans an offshore area of 462 km2 and will be the world’s largest wind farm when it goes into operation in 2022. With a capacity of 1.4 GW, the farm will provide power to more than 1.3 million homes in the United Kingdom.
Patrick Harnett, Senior Programme Director Ørsted's, said: “With plans to have the wind farm operational in 2022, this is a very exciting milestone for Hornsea Two. In 2019, Ørsted opened the UK’s largest operations base for offshore wind at Grimsby’s Royal Dock, providing a total of 400 jobs for local people. Hornsea Two will be maintained and operated from this base, creating a long-term operations hubs, meaning Ørsted will provide careers for years to come – offshore wind farms last at least 25 years.”
The substations are expected to reach their destination in end-September 2021, where they will be integrated with their respective jackets. Installation of the OSS and RCS jacket foundations was completed in October 2020 by Heerema Marine Contractors' Sleipnir, the world’s strongest semi-submersible crane vessel, also built by Sembcorp Marine.