Danish power company Ørsted has started construction on the 1.2GW Hornsea Project One offshore wind farm located in the UK.
The first of 174 monopiles has been installed by by GeoSea’s installation vessel, Innovation.
The vessel is capable of carrying up to four monopiles at a time. Each monopile is 65m long, weighs around 800t and has a diameter of 8.1m, according to the company.
The offshore wind farm is expected to become fully operational in 2020 and the power produced from it will be sufficient to meet electricity needs of over one million homes.
Project’s programme director Duncan Clark said: “After years of planning and preparation it is fantastic to see the initial stages of offshore construction begin.”
A2Sea’s vessel Sea Installer will join GeoSea’s Innovation in March to share the task of transition piece installation.
In February 2016, Ørsted, formerly Dong Energy, had made final investment decision to go ahead with the construction of the offshore wind farm.
The offshore wind farm was expected to create around 2,000 jobs during its construction, and an additional 300 jobs throughout its 25 year of operational life.
In April 2016, ABB secured a contract to provide a 220kV high-voltage cable system for the wind farm.
Under the $250m contract, ABB will build 120km long cable system to interconnect wind farm with the UK mainland grid.
The Hornsea Project One wind farm is expected to will contribute to the UK's effort to generate 30% of its total energy production from renewable sources by 2020.
In September last year, Ørsted had won a 15-year contract for difference (CfD) from the UK government for its 1,386MW Hornsea Project Two offshore wind farm, which will be built with an investment of $7.8bn in North Sea.
Image: Hornsea One offshore wind project is expected to become fully operational in 2020. Photo: Courtesy of Ørsted.