Greek Cables has signed a contract with Ørsted to supply inter-array cables for the 2.85 GW Hornsea Three offshore wind farm in the UK. The company will supply approximately 262 kilometres of cable, representing approximately 50% of the overall wind farm requirements.
Under the contract, the Greek cable manufacturer will be responsible for the design, manufacture, supply, termination and testing of XLPE insulated 66kV inter-array cables connecting the wind turbines to the offshore converter station. Manufacturing will commence in the fourth quarter of 2025 at the Hellenic Cables facility in Corinth, Greece. Hornsea III will be located approximately 120 kilometres off the coast of Norfolk and 160 kilometres off the coast of Yorkshire, covering an area of 696 square kilometres.
The wind farm is planned to comprise up to 231 wind turbines, with suppliers yet to be announced. According to the developer, the project will have a capacity of 2,852 megawatts, enough to power around three million British homes.
According to Ørsted, the 2,852 MW Hornsea Three is the world’s largest single offshore wind farm (it will be built as one project rather than in phases). The project was awarded the Contract for Difference (CfD) in July 2022 and Ørsted expects to make a final investment decision this year. Offshore construction of the project is scheduled to start in 2025 and be completed in 2027.
In the Hornsea area, Ørsted has already completed and commissioned the 1.2GW Hornsea I and 1.3GW Hornsea II offshore wind farms, which were at the time the largest operational offshore wind farms in the world. When Hornsea III comes on stream, Hornsea I, II and III will have a combined capacity of more than five million kilowatts, making them one of the largest offshore wind areas in the world, capable of meeting the electricity consumption of around five million UK homes.
Ørsted has also applied for development consent for Hornsea Four, a 2.6GW offshore wind farm in the Hornsea area.
