The world is picking up on the fight against global warming and more renewable energy capacity is under construction. In this transformation, impressive pieces of cleantech engineering are seeing the light of the day; major wind farms, massive solar panels and intelligent waste-to-energy plants, just to mention a few.
The record-size Hornsea Offshore Wind Farm
In line with these impressive pieces of engineering is the forthcoming Hornsea Project One Offshore Wind Farm, located 120 kilometres off the coast of the UK, built by the market leader within offshore wind construction, DONG Energy.
“We are excited about building this huge wind farm and pushing the boundaries of the offshore wind industry,” says DONG CEO Henrik Poulsen. “Hornsea, Race Bank, Westermost Rough and Lincs will together form a giant production area off the British east coast, supporting our efforts to deliver green and independent energy to society.”
A giant at sea
The construction of the Hornsea Project One starts in early 2016. When the project is complete in 2020, its 174 wind turbines will have a total capacity of 1.2GW, taking up an area larger than Malta. This giant at sea will become the world’s largest offshore wind farm and meet the annual electricity needs of well over one million UK homes.
The Hornsea Project One is just the beginning. DONG Energy has also obtained the project rights to Hornsea Project Two, Three and Four, which have the potential of around a further 4GW of offshore wind power capacity in total. If these projects are completed, the whole wind farm area will span an area more than twice the size of Greater London and have enough spinning wind turbines to meet the annual electricity needs of around four million UK homes.
A world with 100% clean energy
Hornsea Project One will be the final stage for DONG Energy in terms of delivering on its strategic target of installing 6.5GW of offshore wind by 2020. Today, DONG Energy has built 3GW offshore wind, which corresponds to as much as a quarter of the world’s offshore wind capacity.
DONG Energy.
“We want to contribute to creating a world with 100% green energy and in order to get there, green energy must become cheaper than black,” Poulsen says. “Reaching our strategic target for offshore wind is important as volume is required to reduce the cost of a new technology. Hornsea will be another major step in our ongoing efforts to significantly reduce the cost of electricity for offshore wind.”