Heerema Marine Contractors, using its semi-submersible crane vessel (SSCV) Sleipnir, has completed the installation of the second of the two offshore converter stations for the Hornsea 3 offshore wind farm.
The vessel installed the first offshore substation for Ørsted’s 2.9 GW project in the UK in March this year.
The converter stations were built by Aibel, Hitachi Energy and their subcontractors. Heerema Fabrication Group designed and fabricated the jackets at their yard facilities in Vlissingen, Netherlands. The topsides were built in Map Ta Phut, Thailand, before sailing more than 13,000 nautical miles to Haugesund, Norway, for the installation and commissioning of the high-voltage equipment.
Located around 120 kilometres off the coast of Norfolk in the UK North Sea, the 2.9 GW Hornsea 3 offshore wind farm is currently under construction, with the first monopile foundations installed at the beginning of this year.
The offshore wind farm will comprise 197 Siemens Gamesa SG 14-236 DD turbines with a capacity of 14 MW, excluding power boost, and is scheduled to be commissioned in 2027.