{"id":30551,"date":"2022-08-31T15:44:00","date_gmt":"2022-08-31T19:44:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=30551"},"modified":"2022-08-31T15:44:00","modified_gmt":"2022-08-31T19:44:00","slug":"worlds-largest-offshore-wind-farm-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=30551","title":{"rendered":"The world’s largest offshore wind farm is now fully operational"},"content":{"rendered":"

The UK\u2019s\u00a0Hornsea 2, the world\u2019s largest single offshore wind farm<\/a>, is now fully operational.<\/p>\n

August 31 update:<\/strong> On August 17, Electrek <\/em>reported that Hornsea 2 was expected to be fully commissioned before the end of August. \u00d8rsted just slid into home plate today, the last day of the month: Hornsea 2 is now completely powered up. <\/p>\n

Electrek\u2019s Take:<\/strong> This is a major milestone, not just in the UK, but globally, for offshore wind power and renewables in general. And it\u2019s just the start, as \u00d8rsted alone \u2013 not counting other offshore wind developers around the globe \u2013 has 8.9 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind in operation, around 2.2 GW under construction, and another approximately 11 GW of awarded capacity under development. \u00d8rsted\u2019s goal is to install 30 GW of offshore wind by 2030 on a global scale. <\/p>\n

Now that the Biden administration\u2019s Inflation Reduction Act<\/a> has passed, major offshore wind projects will line up even faster in the US, too, in new areas such as the Gulf of Mexico, the Gulf of Maine, and off the California coast. <\/p>\n

We are already seeing alarming evidence of global warming. The offshore wind revolution can\u2019t happen fast enough in order to prevent it from getting worse, so it\u2019s heartening to see big projects like this come online.<\/p>\n

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Map: Hornsea Project<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

The 1.32 GW Hornsea 2 has dethroned the 1.2 GW Hornsea 1 as the largest operating offshore wind farm in the world. It\u2019s 462 square kilometers (178 square miles) in size, and it can power\u00a0more than\u00a01.3 million homes. Together, Hornsea 1 and 2 are capable of powering 2.5 million homes. <\/p>\n

The 2.8 GW Hornsea 3, pictured on the map above, will follow in future, as it was awarded a contract for difference by the British government earlier in 2022. The Hornsea projects are off the east coast of England. <\/p>\n

Hornsea 2 features 165 Siemens Gamesa 8 megawatt (MW) turbines; most of the wind turbines\u2019 blades were manufactured at Siemens Gamesa\u2019s factory in Hull. Just one revolution of the wind turbine blades can power an average UK home for a full 24 hours.<\/p>\n

Hornsea 2 features the world\u2019s largest AC offshore substation, and it also has a Reactive Compensation Station (RCS). An RCS is required because of cable length, so it will compensate for reactive power losses in order to ensure power transmission efficiency.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As Electrek<\/em> reported on December 16, 2021<\/a>, Hornsea 2 produced its first electricity\u00a0that month. But according to \u00d8rsted\u2019s 2021 annual report<\/a>: <\/p>\n

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For Hornsea 2, we saw progress according to plan up until mid-December. However, the accelerating Omicron variant infection rates meant that it was not possible to man the vessels used for commissioning work according to plan.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

As a result, the ramp-up of the huge offshore wind farm was delayed until now.<\/p>\n

There are other big offshore wind projects in the pipeline globally, such as \u00d8rsted\u2019s Greater Changhua 1 & 2a in Taiwan, which is also expected to be commissioned this year.<\/p>\n

Equinor\u2019s and SSE\u2019s 4.8 GW\u00a0Dogger Bank<\/a>, off the Yorkshire coast in the UK, is expected to become the world\u2019s largest offshore wind farm in 2026.<\/p>\n

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