A second major cable supply deal has been signed by Orsted for Hornsea Three offshore wind farm.
Prysmian Group will be responsible for the design, manufacture, supply, termination of testing of the inter-array submarine cable system, connecting the turbines to the offshore converter station. It represents half the requirement of the wind farm, with a contract having been signed with Hellenic for an initial 50 per cent last month.
All the submarine cable cores will be produced at the Italian-headquartered company's centres of excellence located in Montereau and Gron, France, while the armouring and assembling processes will be performed at a plant in Nordenham, Germany. The cables are due to be delivered in 2026.
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Prysmian connected 110 of the 165 wind turbines and the offshore substation platform at Hornsea Two, the world-leading offshore wind farm now operational off the East Yorkshire coast.
Luke Bridgman, senior project director for Hornsea Three, said: “After working successfully with Prysmian on the Hornsea Two project, we are delighted to work together again on Hornsea Three. The project represents another leap forward in terms of the size and scale of offshore wind farms, and collaborations with world-class manufacturers such as Prysmian are crucial to executing the project successfully. Prysmian shares our commitment to providing further sources of low-cost clean energy and we look forward to another great co-operation.”
The project involves approximately 280 km of 66 kV inter-array insulated cables.
Juliano De Mello, sales team manager for offshore wind at Prysmian Group, said: “This award reflects Orsted’s trust in Prysmian’s capabilities to meet the increasing need of submarine cable systems to support the energy transition to smarter and greener power grids. We are very pleased and proud for having been chosen again to undertake such a challenging project supporting Orsted to meet the UK Government’s ambition to deliver 50GW of offshore wind power by 2030 as part of the British energy security strategy. Thanks to our technological and state-of-the-art products and solutions, we will ensure a safe and reliable energy supply to the communities of the area.”
Last month the Milan-based team unveiled a sixth cable-laying vessel was being built, the Monna Lisa. The 171-metre vessel is expected to enter operations in 2025, as a sister ship to its Leonardo da Vinci. It represents a £206 million investment.
Subject to a final investment decision, anticipated this year, Hornsea Three would join the East Coast Cluster for operations and maintenance, at Grimsby, with power landing in Norfolk in a first for the Danish global leader.
