The wind farm has been jointly developed by DONG in partnership with SMart Wind since 2011. Following the consent for the development being granted in December 2014, DONG has chosen to acquire the 66.66% stake held by SMart Wind.

“We will now continue on our own to develop the project towards a final investment decision” said DONG Energy wind power executive vice president Samuel Leupold. “The size of the project and the excellent wind conditions at site together with our strong focus on cost will make Hornsea One an important milestone towards the 100 Euro/MWh target.

“While the project is huge in size, it can be realized with technology which DONG Energy masters, though no one else has ever built offshore wind in that scale so far from the coast.”

Hornsea Project One will cover 407 square kilometres when completed, making it the world’s largest offshore wind farm.

Leupold added: “The size and location of Hornsea Project One makes it the world’s first offshore wind farm with a capacity of more than 1GW located far from shore, and it brings some great opportunities for us and the supply chain to take advantage of economies of scale and further drive down the cost of electricity.”

Contracts for Difference

Hornsea Project One is one of three projects for which DONG Energy was awarded Final Investment Decision Enabling contracts – Contract for Difference – by the UK Government in April last year. DONG Energy will therefore receive a fixed price per MWh of electricity produced for the first 15 years of operation.

Hornsea Project One is expected to enter into commercial operation around 2020, provided that a final investment decision is taken. A final investment decision was taken in December 2014 on another of the three projects awarded a CfD. The 258MW Burbo Bank Extension wind farm should commence construction in 2017.

SMart Wind, a 50/50 joint venture between Mainstream Renewable Power and Siemens Financial Services, will continue to develop the remainder of the Hornsea Zone and has recently submitted Project Two to the Planning Inspectorate.

In October, edie reported that renewable projects worth £81bn are currently in the planning pipeline, signifying the importance of renewable energy to the UK’s future energy mix.

Lucinda Dann

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