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Ørsted A/S (CPH:ORSTED) expects to complete the world’s single largest offshore wind farm, the 2.9-GW Hornsea 3 in the UK, around the end of 2027, the Danish energy group said today as it announced final investment decision (FID) on the project.
Ørsted secured a contract for difference (CfD) for Hornsea 3 in July 2022. The contract is at an inflation-indexed strike price of GBP 37.35 (USD 47.56/EUR 43.38) per MWh in 2012 prices and allows a reduction of the awarded capacity. The company said it will use this flexibility to bid a portion of Hornsea 3’s capacity into the UK’s upcoming CfD allocation round 6.
Ørsted is already operating the 1.2-GW Hornsea 1 and 1.3-GW Hornsea 2 wind farms in the Hornsea zone out of its operations and maintenance hub in Grimsby on the east coast of England. In total, Ørsted now operates 12 offshore wind farms in the UK. The Hornsea cluster could grow to over 7 GW with the addition of the Hornsea 4 project.
The company explained that all major contracts for Hornsea 3 have been awarded, including a deal with Siemens Gamesa for 14-MW turbines excluding power boost. Most of Hornsea 3’s capital expenditure was contracted before recent inflationary pressures, securing competitive prices, it said further, adding that the larger wind turbines and the synergies with Hornsea 1 and 2 lead to lower operating costs.
RenewableUK said the FID announcement is a huge vote of confidence for Britain’s offshore wind industry and shows that the UK government has been listening to the industry after its previous CfD auction procured no new offshore wind.
“The announcements made by Ministers over the last two months of more sustainable administrative strike prices, permanent full expensing for investors in green technologies and funding to support clean energy manufacturing in the UK are putting us back on track to make Britain one of the most attractive countries for international investors in offshore wind,” commented RenewableUK’s chief executive Dan McGrail.
(GBP 1 = USD 1.273/EUR 1.162)
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