Skip to main content

Partnering with WREN, questionnaires are sent to offshore wind energy developers around the world who are involved in environmental monitoring. This page provides contextual project information and highlights environmental monitoring, providing links to available data and reports. Content is updated annually.

Hornsea 2

Hornsea 2 Offshore Wind Farm

Contents

Wind Project Site

Title: Hornsea 2
Status:
Operating
Project Manager:
Ørsted
Turbine Developer:
Siemens Gamesa
Construction Start:
Operation Start:
Info Last Updated:
Contact:
Info
(login for email address)
Website:
External Link

Details

Technology:
Fixed Offshore Wind
Project Scale:
Commercial Farm
Turbine Model:
SG 8.0-167 DD
Hub Height:
200 m
Rotor Diameter:
167 m
Number of Turbines:
165
Capacity per Turbine:
8 MW
Installed Capacity:
1320 MW
Support Structure:
Monopile
Inter-Array Cables:
66 kV
Export Cables:
Buried Seafloor Cables
Export Cable Voltage:
220 kV
Number of Export Cables:
3
Cable Landfall:
Horizontal Directional Drill
Physical Site:
Shallow Water (<60m), Marine, Hard-Bottom Habitat
Water Depth:
30-40m
Distance from Shore:
89 km
Country:
United Kingdom

Description

At 1.32 GW, Hornsea 2 will overtook Hornsea 1 as the world’s biggest offshore wind farm when it came online in August 2022. The farm comprises 165 Siemens Gamesa SG 8.0-167 DD turbines and is 100% owned by Ørsted. 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! Or view Ørsted's Hornsea 2 Photography Exhibition. 

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. The farm is operated and maintained from Ørsted's East Coast Hub in Grimsby which supports a workforce of over 600 people.

Project Timeline

  • August 2022: Hornsea Two became fully operational
  • October 2020: Offshore construction began
  • April 2019: Onshore cable installation work began
  • 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

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)

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) monitored the area for any animals that could be affected by the noise produced from pile driving. Monitoring took 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) were used to deter animals from the area to protect them from harmful levels of noise. 

Additional Hornsea 2 data can be found on the Marine Data Exchange

Environmental Monitoring: Hornsea 2

ID Phase Stressor & Receptor Design and Methods Results Publications Data
2074575 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.
2074576 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.
2074577 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.
2074578 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.
2074579 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.
2074580 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.
2074581 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.
2074582 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.
2074583 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.
2084039 Construction, Operations Habitat Change

Ecosystem Processes, Invertebrates, Physical Environment 		Habitat Mapping and Benthic Surveys
Since 2018, the organization Ocean Ecology has been conducting seabed imagery surveys. Additionally, the organization has been developing a predictive modelling process based on geophysical data and ground-truthing information to map reef habitats (e.g. Sabellaria (genus) and stony reef). 		Ongoing
No publicly available report at this time.

Updates can be found on Ocean Ecology's website.
2084040 Construction, Operations Habitat Change

Fish 		Herring Spawning Monitoring
Grab samples along the Hornsea 2 Export Cable Corridor (ECC) have been collected to assess sediment type and composition as a proxy for herring spawning ground suitability. The monitoring has been ongoing since 2018. 		Ongoing
No publicly available report at this time

Updates can be found on Ocean Ecology's website.
2074585 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.
2074584 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.