Moving the topside onto the heavy transportation vessel BigLift Barentsz required 38 special self-propelled motor transporters with 380 axles. The structure is now on a 55-day, 13,000-nautical-mile journey to Haugesund, Norway, where high-voltage equipment will be installed and tested for offshore use. Before departure, Buddhist monks conducted a blessing ceremony for the load and voyage.
Hornsea 3 managing director Luke Bridgman stated: “The sail-away of the first of our Hornsea 3 offshore converter station topsides is an important milestone. It marks the culmination of three years of hard work by our teams in Europe and Thailand, and the start of our next phase in delivering the world’s single biggest offshore wind farm. This huge structure is an impressive piece of engineering, which so far has been completed safely, efficiently, on time and on budget. It’s a testament to the skill of our workers, as well as a visual aid demonstrating the complexity and scale of Hornsea 3.”
Ørsted signed a contract with Aibel and Hitachi Energy in 2022 to supply the offshore converter stations. Located 120 kilometers off the Norfolk coast and 160 kilometers off the Yorkshire coast in the UK, Hornsea 3 will have a capacity of 2.9 gigawatts. Once operational, it will generate enough renewable energy to power over 3 million UK homes.
The project reflects strong coordination across teams in Thailand and Europe, ensuring timely and safe progress. The topside’s journey to Norway is a critical phase, preparing the structure for its role in the wind farm. Hornsea 3’s scale underscores its importance in advancing clean energy, contributing significantly to the UK’s renewable energy goals.
