HORNSEA 3
Safer, Leaner, Greener in UK North Sea
PRODUCTION: David Hill
Orsted is using its rich history to build the world’s largest offshore windfarm… again. Hornsea 3 will be operational in 2027, safer, leaner and greener than any other. Managing Director, Luke Bridgman tells Energy Focus more about current status and leaving an impact on the communities that the project effects.
Luke Bridgman, Managing Director
Credit: Matt Usher
INDUSTRY FOCUS: RENEWABLES
//Leaving a lasting legacy is the task for Orsted’s Luke Bridgman, Managing Director for the colossal Hornsea 3 project.
“This is one of the bigger infrastructure projects in the UK right now, delivering nearly 3GW of power, for more than three million homes, making a material difference to the energy transition, and that is what gets us out of bed in the morning,” he says of the £8.5 billion core infrastructure project which received its development consent in December 2020.
When complete, Hornsea 3 will be the world’s single largest offshore windfarm with around 200 turbines covering almost 700 km2 (the entire country of Singapore is 728 km2).
“We don’t think the title will be knocked off for some time,” smiles Bridgman. “I enjoy having the Guinness World Record certificate for Hornsea 2
next to my office and I look forward to having the same for Hornsea 3 soon.”
ONSHORE SUCCESS
Currently, the project is going through a phase of complex onshore works that will bring power to the grid when energy is eventually produced out in the North Sea. The offshore site is 120km off the Norfolk coast. It’s a cold and remote location, with the Netherlands to the east, Yorkshire to the west, and Norway a long way north. Subsea cables will travel south, reaching the shore at Weybourne in north Norfolk before an onshore cable corridor transfers green power to a substation south of Norwich city centre.
Orsted has vast experience building substantial projects of this nature and understands the upheaval that comes with effective rollout. This is why it works with the world’s best and the
region’s best, whilst taking care to work closely with the local community.
Currently, Bridgman is happy with progress. From heavy infrastructure work at yards around the world, to cable manufacture in Europe, to digging in Norfolk, the team is advancing quickly.
“We are going very well,” he beams. “We started work on the highvoltage direct current (HVDC) system in 2022 and we are a long way ahead. Onshore is the main crux of work at the moment and our onshore converter station in Norwich is what we are busy with – erecting steelwork and foundations right now. That is where we will convert power from DC back to AC. We are largely out of the ground with the foundations and building structures above ground, and that is a big step in the right direction.”
On the cable route, carefully trenching and tunnelling through more
Onshore Converter Station Swardeston, Norfolk
HORNSEA
than 50km of rural agricultural land is a mammoth job. The preliminary work to gain permissions and approvals is itself a big task, then sourcing the correct contractors and materials is an international effort. The actual work happening on the ground is the next step in a multi-party, multi-skill, multi-geography effort.
“We are laying the ducts that cables are pulled into, and we have already started pulling the first cables. The length of cable is dictated by how much you can fit on a drum, how many drums you can fit on a truck, and how many specialist trucks you can get. Around every 1.5km you join the cable and we have transported a lot of the cables to site already. We’ve even had to make some special smaller drums to be able to fit under some low Victorian era bridges. The cables are manufactured in Sweden and shipped
into the Port of Boston in Lincolnshire before moving into Norfolk with a police escort the whole way for safety.
“We are also working on the interface between shore and sea, the horizontal directional drill (HDD) near Weybourne,” Bridgman adds. “The jack-up can currently be seen, sitting around 600m offshore, and it is there to receive the drill when it comes out of the water. In early 2026, we arrive with the vessel and pull the cables to connect onshore and offshore and that is exciting as it is one of the first major pieces of offshore work.”
INTERNATIONAL EFFORT
Headquartered in Denmark, Orsted’s work engages an international supply chain and encourages global collaboration with UK suppliers playing an important part in delivery. Currently, manufacturing of various elements
is underway around the world and soon materials and equipment will head, through a tried and tested supply chain – to the UK North Sea.
“We are heavily into the manufacturing phase, right across the project,” explains Bridgman. “We are soon to begin manufacturing monopiles at the fabrication yard in Teesside where we will be the first customer to have monopiles from that factory. We also have a factory in Bilbao, and manufacturing will start there next year as well.
“At the same time, we are starting to make array cables in Italy and Greece,” he adds. “In Thailand, we are busy with two huge HVDC topsides. One is very mature and the other is coming out of the ground and not a long way behind.”
The first topside will sail from Thailand to Norway to be fitted out before heading to site in late Q1/
Image Credits: Ørsted
INDUSTRY FOCUS: RENEWABLES
Support Elements
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early Q2 2026. From here, a major campaign will get underway offshore with Bridgman expecting a “very busy year” as export cables and monopiles are installed. Towards the end of 2026, turbines will start to arrive and be erected over a 12-month period, before commissioning and completion at the end of 2027.
project that demonstrates its scale.
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During that time, a major Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) will also be installed alongside the onshore converter station. As demand for power rises and falls throughout the day, the immense energy produced not just by Hornsea 3, but by other renewables in the vicinity, will be stored and deployed appropriately through the use of a price-volatility busting BESS, delivered by Tesla Megapack.
“It will be a 600 MW/h battery –one of the biggest in Europe when delivered – co-located with the offshore windfarm, and that is exciting,” admits Bridgman of another element of the
“We are the first offshore windfarm to deliver a large-scale battery energy storage system co-located in this way and it will help balance energy infrastructure as we move through the green transition. It will help us, and help the government’s green energy ambition, while supporting safe and efficient operation of the grid. We are proud to deliver this battery system – it has to make financial sense for Orsted but as part of the energy transition we aim to support National Grid and Ofgem ensuring we have a very strong and secure energy system while we are in this transition period.”
POSITIVE IMPACT
Since the first offshore windfarm, Vindeby, was installed by Orsted in 1991, the company has been resolute in its approach. Always pushing boundaries and leaving a positive impact, but doing so in a respectful manner – both in
Across the onshore cable route, all farmlands will be completely remediated and, in many cases, improved.
“We are passionate about leaving a positive impact on the local community where we work,” says Bridgman, adding that the company works with the main contractors to employ a local supply chain where possible. Firms across Norfolk have been onboarded across civil works, surfacing, trenching, accommodation, and general labour. A Community Benefit Fund has also been established to support ongoing prosperity in the area – with the first grants being awarded in summer this year.
“We look to work on STEM schemes to ensure we build skills for the future and leave a positive legacy. We will spend £7 million over
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Onshore Cable Route 21 - Credit: Ørsted
Offshore Wind Services
RPS has a long history of supporting developers in Offshore Wind – delivering smart solutions to their complex development goals. As offshore wind consultants, our breadth of services allows our teams to sit alongside our clients throughout the asset lifecycle, providing international standard advice. In 2023, RPS became part of Tetra Tech, a leading provider of consulting and engineering services worldwide.
Communications and engagement
We provide strategic communications and engagement strategy for the offshore wind sector. We work with you to identify audiences, articulate objectives and foster support for initiatives using mediums and forums specifically tailored to your organisational context and project type.
Managing the permitting and consents process
Navigating the complexities of multiple regulatory frameworks and stakeholder engagement needs specialist knowledge and experience. Getting this right can prevent your project from becoming tangled in unnecessary and expensive delays and escalating development and operating costs. RPS has advised on offshore energy projects for 40 years – our local expertise is backed by an international network to help clients navigate the nuances of increasingly complex regulatory landscapes.
A dedicated team of environment assessment and permitting project managers
The environmental assessment process for offshore wind can be complex and demanding. Our team of dedicated and experienced offshore wind Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) project managers are supported by a breadth of in-house technical specialists. This team comprises our problem solvers –working closely with our clients to find solutions to complex issues.
Applying international standard advice to provide investment confidence
When you’re looking to apply international standards at a local level, it helps to engage with teams who have a wealth of international experience to back you up. Our teams have experience advising in a range of regulatory environments around the world and bring this experience to bear on projects, to provide confidence in the standard of advice provided.
Robust interpretation of ground conditions to de-risk development areas
Uncertainty regarding offshore ground conditions can introduce unwanted ambiguity to a development project – particularly during a competitive bidding process. RPS are acknowledged experts in the assessment and interpretation of ground conditions – reducing uncertainty and facilitating optimisation and informed decision-making.
Design and manage offshore surveys to ensure fit-for-purpose results
We have specialists who design offshore geophysical and geotechnical surveys, metocean surveys and the full range of environmental surveys (onshore and offshore). We routinely sit alongside our clients, helping to procure and manage surveys as well as managing quality control and analysing outputs. Read more about our range of offshore surveys.
Unexploded Ordnance (UXO)
We work with clients to assess the risks from Unexploded Ordnance to their project sites before construction. For offshore wind development, we support wind farm developers, cable installation contractors and transmission system operators.
Applying new technology and innovation
We provide high-quality and durable LiDAR buoys for the sitespecific long-term measurement of wind resource. Our buoy design is supported by decades of offshore measurement experience in the harshest environments, together with the application of industry-leading technology. Our buoys are environmentally friendly – they’ve been carefully designed with moorings that minimise seabed disturbance and marine life entanglement risk, which simplifies the permitting process.
Metocean forecasting for operations planning
We provide unique metocean forecasting that integrates site-specific, real-time measurements with advanced model predictions to provide high-quality forecasts. These improve significantly on traditional forecast products, providing our clients with better information on which to make important decisions.
OceansMap | An ocean of data. Integrated.
Operating in complex ocean environments, offshore wind developers and contractors face a breadth of planning, implementation, and operational challenges. Already limited windows of opportunity for on-site construction and operational maintenance are often reduced by changing weather and uncertainty regarding MetOcean conditions. Effectively navigating this complex network of challenges requires integrated software systems, like RPS OceansMap, to ensure success.
Acting as EIA lead for Hornsea 1, 2 and 3 from 2011 to 2020 has given RPS’s specialists in consenting (otherwise known as permitting or approvals) a unique insight into how the approach to cumulative effects, a key risk for project consents, has developed – and continues to affect the offshore wind industry today.
What are cumulative effects?
As part of the Environmental Impact Assessment process in the UK, offshore wind developers need to consider the implications (impacts) of their projects on a wide range of environmental and socio-economic receptors (e.g. protected species, existing offshore and onshore industries and local communities). They must pay particular attention to the combined effects of other existing, planned or approved developments that could interact with the project, and result in greater effects on those receptors. The need for this process is set down in UK government policy, with the Secretary of State required to consider environmental, long-term and cumulative adverse impacts, as well as measures to avoid, reduce, mitigate and compensate for these, when making a consent decision.
The consent decision for Hornsea 3 in late 2020 came at a time when key changes in approach were needed to facilitate future offshore wind development in the UK. The major consenting challenges for UK offshore wind projects largely resulted from cumulative effects, so while these effects were not exclusive to Hornsea 3, how they were dealt with in consenting at the turn of the last decade can be seen as a defining moment for UK offshore wind.
Below, we look at some of the key consenting challenges faced by Hornsea 3 and other Round 3 leasing projects in the late 2010s, and steps taken by the industry since to address them.
1) Marine mammals and underwater noise
Early Round 3 leasing projects identified a solution to the consenting challenge related to the cumulative noise effects of foundation piling on protected marine mammal species. This involved the use of a Site Integrity Plan to manage piling
operations in marine protected areas (Hornsea 2 was one of the first projects to use Site Integrity Plans). Site Integrity Plans are now commonplace in offshore wind applications and have since been included in the UK government’s National Policy Statement for Renewable Energy Infrastructure (EN-3) Since Hornsea 3 was consented, there have been further developments in this area, and RPS is currently supporting Defra/the UK government as it looks at further measures to manage underwater noise from piling to minimise cumulative effects on marine mammals and other species.
2) Connection to the UK grid
At the time of Hornsea 3 (and other Round 3 leasing project applications), the cumulative effects of cabling and the “squeeze for space” had become a key risk for consenting – both offshore in marine protected areas and onshore, with the potential for extended disruption to local communities. In some cases, these cumulative effects contributed to delays in consent decisions (e.g. Hornsea 3, Norfolk Vanguard and Norfolk Boreas). Since Hornsea 3, there have been several initiatives that have set out to address the cumulative effects of cabling and to ensure grid infrastructure is developed in a manner that is both environmentally sustainable and minimises disturbance to local communities. These include RPS’s work supporting National Grid on the Holistic Network Design and work undertaken by The Crown Estate to better understand and manage impacts in marine protected areas, in addition to more up to date advice from regulators and nature conservation bodies. These have led to innovative approaches to connecting offshore wind projects to the UK grid, including shared grid connections and greater collaboration between offshore wind developers on grid connections, including the first joint transmission application which RPS is supporting on, the Morgan and Morecambe Transmission.
Nicola Simpson Director of Offshore Renewables, EAME
3) Offshore ornithology
This is probably one of the most contentious and high-profile consenting risks for UK offshore wind projects. Hornsea 3 was a game changer because it was the first project required to provide compensatory measures to offset the cumulative effects of offshore wind on bird populations. Many other projects followed suit soon after Hornsea 3 was granted consent.
Since the turn of the decade, the industry’s approach to ornithology compensation has shifted to a “strategic approach”, with greater collaboration between developers and government agencies to offset impacts from multiple projects on birds, and to provide greater combined benefits to protected birds. In addition, RPS is working with developers and regulators on studies aimed at getting better information on how offshore wind farms and birds interact, to reduce conservatism in impact assessments in the future.
4) Coexistence with other industries
Throughout the development of Hornsea 1, 2 and 3, coexistence with other sea users, in particular commercial fisheries and the offshore oil and gas industry, was a key consideration. While many issues in this vein boil down to commercial agreements between individual developments or organisations, the consenting process plays an important role in understanding what the impacts of offshore wind farms will be on these industries and identifying how they can effectively coexist. Proactive stakeholder engagement is essential to understand concerns, assess impacts and ultimately allow us to identify opportunities to work together for mutual benefit.
The future for cumulative effects
Since the successful Hornsea 3 consent decisions in 2020, RPS has been involved in some of the strategic initiatives to address pressing offshore wind challenges, including National Grid’s Holistic Network Design, work with The Crown Estate on the impact of cables and various projects with regulatory and nature conservation bodies (discussed above). We have also continued our leading role in offshore wind consenting in the UK, bringing our deep knowledge and experience of cumulative effects to three Round 4 Development Consent Order applications, the Berwick Bank offshore wind project and four ScotWind projects, including Ossian, the first large-scale floating offshore wind project in the world. Tetra Tech is also working with developers across the globe, bringing our learnings from the UK and internationally. Even if cumulative effects are less of an immediate risk in emerging markets, early planning and consideration of these issues will help to head off potential consenting delays in the future.
The work on cumulative effects is far from complete. It has continued to be key for Round 4 developments in the UK and will be so for future offshore wind leasing as we further utilise and share the sea bed with other users. This includes the upcoming Round 5 leasing round in the Celtic Sea, which will also need to consider cumulative effects from proposed offshore wind projects in the waters around the Republic of Ireland.
If you have any questions about cumulative effects or other support for the offshore wind industry, please reach out to Nicola Simpson,
INDUSTRY FOCUS: RENEWABLES
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the next 10 years in North Norfolk, along our cable route, and in parts of Suffolk – which we deploy through collaboration with parish councillors and business leaders with a focus on education,” says Bridgman. For fairness, Orsted and the Hornsea 3 team have employed a third party, Grantscape, to examine applications for funding and determine who is successful.
Orsted will also sponsor and support graduates in the green energy space from the local university – the University of East Anglia (UEA).
“We aim to leave the area and the communities in a better condition than when we arrived, and we want to be a strong partner with the groups we work with. This is at the heart of what we do and I believe it is important for companies such as Orsted to lead on this. We are genuine, we are deliberate, it is not about
box ticking, and we see it in places that we have worked in – places like Barrow and throughout the Humber region – where there is an enduring positive legacy,” Bridgman explains.
WORLD’S BEST
Bridgman, an electrical engineer, has been with Orsted for a decade, overseeing the electrical transmission system for the company’s major Race Bank windfarm, itself once one of the world’s largest. He worked on Hornsea 2 as the Deputy EPC Director before taking up the Managing Director position for Hornsea 3.
“I was lucky enough to join Orsted just as it began dominating the industry,” he says. “Since then, I have learnt a lot from really great people and I have always been on some of the world’s biggest, if not the biggest projects each time.”
Within Orsted, around 400 people work on the Hornsea 3 project, but
the wider network, across the supply chain, brings the employed number of people well into the thousands.
Bridgman expects in excess of 5000 people to be employed during construction and 1200 through the windfarm’s operational life. Right now, there is a lot of onshore engineering, but in 2026, he says, “activity will ramp up significantly offshore”.
It is not just in the UK that Orsted is ramping up development and delivery. In 2024, and over the next year, the company will build and generate more energy capacity than ever before. As of April this year, Greater Changhua 1 and 2a, Orsted’s first gigawatt-scale offshore wind farms outside Europe, were fully connected to the grid, producing enough renewable energy to power one million Taiwanese households a year. Borkum Riffgrund 3 is also currently under construction in the German North Sea, and will become Germany’s largest and first zero-subsidy offshore
windfarm. And recently, the Helena Energy Center in Texas was completed –a combined solar and wind project with 518 MW capacity. Orsted is also busy with the major Revolution and Sunrise Wind projects in the US Northeast and a number of other onshore projects across Germany, Ireland and the US.
“Orsted has the biggest pipeline of projects and the biggest track record of delivery in offshore wind. That means we have built very strong partnerships with the leading supply chain companies out there over many years. We use these relationships and our experience to derisk our execution as much as possible. With the constantly shifting external environment, this derisking is critical to our success as a company and on Hornsea 3. Certainty on our delivery, with safety as the absolute priority
is what we in the project need to always focus on,” says Bridgman.
In September, Orsted received UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) contract for difference (CfD) for Hornsea 4 as well as a portion of Hornsea 3 which was re-bid, along with other Round 4 projects. When complete, Hornsea 3 and, eventually, Hornsea 4 pending a final investment decision, will join Hornsea 1 and 2, creating the world’s largest offshore wind zone, unlocking cluster synergies and covering the power consumption of around five million UK homes.
Orsted’s ambition is to have built 35-38 GW of renewable capacity across all green energy technologies by 2030, including 20-22 GW in offshore wind capacity. Hornsea 3 will contribute, and Bridgman is enthusiastic.
“Our mission at Hornsea 3 is
‘to build the world’s single largest offshore wind farm, safer, leaner and greener than ever before’. It’s a special project for me,” he says, highlighting the diverse team of industry leading experts across technical, engineering, finance, commercial, operations; “it’s a very good place to be. You don’t deliver projects like this without having the world’s best people around you”.
As onshore work continues, and the larger offshore undertaking ramps up into the New Year, Orsted is again proving its ability on the global stage. Hornsea 3 is making its mark now and into the future.
