Ørsted has taken delivery of the first sets of monopiles for its Hornsea 3 Offshore Wind Farm. In total, six of the massive structures have now arrived into Teesside in the UK from manufacturer Haizea after travelling 960 nautical miles in two batches from Bilbao in Spain.
The monopiles, the first of a total of 197, produced for Hornsea 3, the world’s single largest offshore wind farm, each weigh an average of 1,670 tonnes and 90m in length. Each one is the equivalent weight to nine of the heaviest blue whales and the length of around three of the longest. Their diameter at the top is 8m and at the bottom it can be up to 11m.
They travelled to the UK on Biglift’s CY Interocean II and the load out and load in were completed by the Cadeler team, working closely with experts from Ørsted and Haizea in Spain and Ørsted and Steel River Quay, Teesworks in the UK.
Luke Bridgman, Managing Director of Hornsea 3, said: “2026 is the year we begin offshore works on Hornsea 3 in earnest and the arrival of these first monopiles marks a key milestone in that process. Working closely with expert partners is how we’ll make Hornsea 3 a success and we’re confident that we have the best possible team in place to make that happen.”
Borja Zarraga, CEO of Haizea Wind Group, said: “Delivering the first monopiles for this project is a milestone for Haizea Bilbao. The expansion of our facilities was born from the trust Ørsted placed in us, and being part of Hornsea 3 allows us to demonstrate our technical capabilities and our commitment as an expert partner in large-scale offshore projects.”
Mikkel Gleerup, CEO of Cadeler, said: “The delivery of the first set of monopiles for Hornsea 3 marks an important step in Cadeler’s development as a full-scope offshore wind partner. This milestone has been enabled by the investments that Cadeler has made in specialised foundation expertise and vessels specifically engineered for extra-large monopile foundation transportation and installation. With three vessels committed to the Hornsea 3 campaign, including our brand new A-class vessel, Wind Ally, Cadeler is ready to execute this project safely and efficiently. Our collaboration with Ørsted continues a strong partnership built over many years, and we are proud to support the realisation of what will become the world’s largest offshore wind farm.”
Ally Cameron, Managing Director at Steel River Quay, located at Teesworks said: “Welcoming the first Hornsea 3 monopiles into Teesside is a proud moment for both the project and for Steel River Quay. Our state-of-the-art facilities have been purpose-built to handle components of this scale, and it’s fantastic to see the site now playing a central role in delivering what will become the world’s largest offshore wind farm. This arrival underlines the strength of the partnerships forming here on the Tees and highlights how our region is helping drive the UK’s clean energy transition while creating long-term industrial opportunity and skilled jobs locally.”
