Description
Hornsea 2 was the world’s largest wind farm when it came online on August 31st, 2022, with 165 Siemens Gamesa SG 8.0-167 DD turbines and monopile foundations made by EEW, for a total compacity of 1.32 GW. The farm covers an offshore area of 462km² and is located directly next to Hornsea 1 in the North Sea off the coast Grimsby, England.
For more information on the Hornsea projects, check out this 60 minutes video!
Location
Hornsea 2 is located 89 km (55.302 miles) off the Yorkshire coast in the North Sea, adjacent to Hornsea 1. Hornsea 2 is located 55 miles east of the Port of Grimsby. The cable makes landfall at Lincolnshire’s Horseshoe Point beach.
Licensing Information
- 2020: Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS); Safety Zone Permit
- 2019: Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS); Decommissioning Programme
- 2018: Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS); Development Consent Order (DCO) Amendment
- 2016: Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS); Development Consent Order (DCO)
- 2016: Marine Management Organisation (MMO), Deemed Marine Licences (DML)
Project Timeline
- August 2022: Hornsea Two becomes fully operational
- October 2020: Offshore construction begins
- April 2019: Onshore cable installation work begins
- July 2018: Construction of onshore substation commenced
- April 2018: Site investigations offshore and enabling works on the onshore substation commenced
- September 2017: Contract for Difference awarded to the Project and Final Investment Decision made
- August 2016: Secretary of State grants Development Consent Order
- October 2012: Environmental Impact Assessment Scoping Report
Key Environmental Issues
Key species known to occur in the project area are harbor porpoises, white-beaked dolphins, minke whales, as well as grey and harbor seals.
Prior to any construction activities taking place, dedicated Marine Mammal Observers (MMOs) will monitor the area for any animals that could be affected by the noise produced from pile driving. Monitoring is taking place from DEME’s jack-up vessels during the installation of the monopiles, as well as Heerema’s semisubmersible crane vessel Sleipnir during the construction of the two offshore substations.
In addition to visual monitoring to ensure marine mammals are not within close proximity to piling operations, acoustic deterrent devices (ADDs) are used to deter animals from the area to protect them from harmful levels of noise. Should a mammal be detected within the designated protection zone piling operations are delayed until it leaves the area.
Metadata Documents
Environmental Papers and Reports
- Hornsea Three Environmental Monitoring Plan for Impacts Associated with Cable Protection (Royal Haskoning DHV 2021)
- Hornsea Project Two Offshore Wind Farm Decommissioning Programme (Ørsted 2019)
- Report on the Implications for European Sites Proposed Hornsea Offshore Wind Farm (Zone 4) - Project Two (The Planning Inspectorate for England and Wales 2015)
- Hornsea Project 2 Environmental Impact Assessment (SMart Wind 2012)
- Behavior of Scandinavian Bats During Migration and Foraging at Sea (Ahlén et al. 2009)
- Co-Occurrence of Cetaceans and Seabirds in the Northeast Atlantic (Skov et al. 1995)
Environmental Monitoring: Hornsea 2 Offshore Wind Farm
Phase | Stressor & Receptor | Design and Methods | Results | Publications | Data |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Baseline | Bats | Boat-based Bat Survey Coastal areas and islands of the Scandinavian Peninsula and islands of southern Sweden and Denmark were surveyed from July to October in 2005, 2006, and 2008. They used 38 nights for studies from boats (and some small islands) and made observations 4 h from sunset. | Complete Hornsea 2 will not have a significant environmental impact on bats. | SMart Wind 2012, Ahlén et al. 2009 | No data publicly available. |
Baseline | Birds | Boat Based Survey Monthly boat-based surveys were conducted between March 2010 - February 2011. | Complete Monthly boat-based surveys were conducted between March 2010 - February 2011. | SMart Wind 2012 | No data publicly available. |
Baseline | Birds | Seabird Survey Between 1980-1994, one seabird observer was located on a cruising ship to record the boat position and any bird species. | Complete Between 1980-1994, one seabird observer was located on a cruising ship to record the boat position and any bird species. | Skov et al. 1995, SMart Wind 2012 | No data publicly available. |
Baseline | Birds | Aerial Survey An aerial survey across Hornsea zone 2 was conducted in June 2012. | Complete An aerial survey across Hornsea zone 2 was conducted in June 2012. | SMart Wind 2012 | No data publicly available. |
Baseline | Ecosystem Processes | Seabed Surveys 65 sites were surveyed using digital photography and video in July 2011. | Complete Recorded status of benthic habitat. | SMart Wind 2012 | No data publicly available. |
Baseline | Fish | Fish Baseline Study Intertidal fish surveys were conducted in 2011. | Complete 22 taxa of fish were caught in the intertidal fish surveys. | SMart Wind 2012 | No data publicly available. |
Baseline | Invertebrates | Shellfish Potting Surveys In 2011, shellfish potting surveys were conducted (following CEFAS guidelines) along the cable route looking at commercial lobster catches. | Complete Shellfish record stayed standard year to year. | SMart Wind 2012 | No data publicly available. |
Baseline | Marine Mammals | Cetacean Survey Between 1980-1994, two whale observer were located on a cruising ship to record the boat position and any visible species. | Complete 1.2 cetaceans were recorded per 10-minute period. | Skov et al. 1995 | No data publicly available. |
Baseline | Physical Environment | Trawl study Between 2010-2012, approximately 50 trawling sites were examined along the site and cable path. | Complete 46 fish and 13 shellfish were recorded. | SMart Wind 2012 | No data publicly available. |
Operations | Habitat Change Physical Environment | SAC Survey In 2021, the transects commenced 50m from the edge (at right angles from the cable route) of the proposed cable protection boundary. The transects will cross the cable protection and continue 50m away from the boundary of the cable protection berm on the opposite side. | In Progress
As all the monitoring surveys are designed to be carried out to the same specification from preconstruction, through operation and post-decommissioning, the monitoring results will inherently identify recovery of the impacted environment. |
Royal Haskoning DHV 2021 | No data publicly available. |
Operations | Noise Marine Mammals | Marine Mammal Observers (MMOs) In October 2020, a specialized MMO team was brought in to pause pile driving during periods of marine mammal activity. | Completed Impacts to marine mammals during the Hornsea Two wind farm construction activities have been negligible. | ON&T 2020 | No data publicly available. |