UXO Removal Campaign Underway at Hornsea Three Offshore Wind Project
Ørsted is currently conducting a confirmed unexploded ordnance (cUXO) removal campaign along the export cable route of the Hornsea Three offshore wind project in the UK. Additionally, a potential UXO (pUXO) inspection campaign is being carried out in the array area.
As of April 14, a total of 24 confirmed UXOs within the Hornsea Three export cable route have been successfully removed. The remaining cUXO is scheduled for explosive ordnance detonation (EOD) by the vessel Glomar Wave, which also conducted similar work on the East Anglia Three offshore wind farm last year.
The EOD works at the Hornsea Three export cable route are anticipated to be completed by May 2025, as indicated in a Notice to Mariners from the project.
Meanwhile, at the Hornsea Three array site, a pUXO inspection campaign is currently underway. As of April 14, ten pUXOs have been confirmed as cUXOs. The inspection campaign is being carried out using the vessel Kamara. EOD work at the Hornsea Three array area is expected to commence in a separate campaign in the third quarter of 2025.
The Hornsea Three offshore wind farm, with a capacity of 2.9 GW, is situated approximately 160 kilometers off the Yorkshire coast. The project is set to feature around 200 Siemens Gamesa 14 MW wind turbines and is projected to become operational in 2027.
Contract for Difference for Hornsea Three
Ørsted was awarded a Contract for Difference (CfD) for Hornsea Three in July 2022. The developer highlighted that with its 2.9 GW installed capacity, the project stands as the largest single offshore wind farm globally.
In 2023, when Ørsted made the Final Investment Decision (FID) on the offshore wind farm, the company mentioned that the CfD framework allowed for a reduction of the awarded capacity. Ørsted opted to utilize this flexibility by submitting a portion of Hornsea Three’s capacity into the UK’s CfD allocation round 6 (AR6).
Hornsea Three secured a 1,080 MW capacity in the UK’s AR6 auction in September 2024.