Installation of scour protection on wind turbine foundation locations at the Hornsea Three offshore site in the UK is set to commence in mid-December.
The work will be undertaken by DEME using its rock installation vessel Flintstone, equipped with a fallpipe and flexible bucket system.
The vessel is expected to mobilise from Jelsa Quarry, Norway, on 13 December and start installation on 15 December. Operations are expected to be completed by the end of March 2026, according to a Notice to Mariners issued by Ørsted.
Currently, cable installation pre-lay operations are ongoing at the eastern part of the offshore wind farm’s export cable route, conducted by Jan De Nul using the vessel Pedro Alvares Cabral , with boulder and debris relocation along the inter-array cable (IAC) routes and foundation positions set to start soon. The work on the IAC routes will be carried out by Seaway7 and Helix using the vessels Normand Subsea and Grand Canyon III .
Ørsted took the Final Investment Decision (FID) on Hornsea Three offshore wind farm in 2023, after the company was awarded a Contract for Difference (CfD) for the 2.9 GW project in July 2022.
This November, Ørsted entered into an agreement with Apollo-managed funds (Apollo) for a 50 per cent equity ownership share in Hornsea Three for approximately DKK 39 billion (about EUR 5.2 billion).
Located 160 kilometres off the Yorkshire coast, the Hornsea Three offshore wind farm will feature around 200 Siemens Gamesa 14 MW wind turbines and is expected to be operational in 2027.