The United Kingdom puts the world's largest wind farm into operation

Hornsea 2, located 89 km off the Yorkshire coast, becomes the largest active wind farm with 1.3 GW of capacity

Renewable energy, and wind power in particular, continues to set records as its deployment increases throughout the world. Thus, the date of August 31, 2022 will be remembered as the date of the commissioning of the world’s largest wind farm, Hornsea 2, which, as reported by Ørsted -developer of this offshore wind farm- comprises a total of 165 wind turbines, located 89 km off the Yorkshire coast (United Kingdom), with a generating capacity of 1.3 GW capable of supplying renewable energy to 1,400,000 British homes. These staggering figures, combined with those of its predecessor, Hornsea 1, bring the total number of homes receiving clean energy to 2,500,000.

This record-breaking wind farm has a total area of ​​462 km2 connected to the coast of Horseshoe Point, in Lincolnshire, by 390 kilometers of cables. According to Ørsted itself, each wind turbine blade measures 81 meters in length, with the tip reaching more than 200 meters above sea level. At these dimensions, a single revolution of a blade is capable of supplying the renewable energy needed to power a British home for 24 hours.

Both phases of the wind farm will join the future Hornsea 3 project in the maritime area of ​​the same name, which covers a surface area of ​​​​2,000 square kilometers. This future expansion will possibly make Hornsea 3 the largest future wind farm on the planet by adding another 2.8 GW of generating capacity; enough to power the electricity needs of 3,200,000 homes.

50 GW of offshore wind by 2030

This news only reinforces the UK’s roadmap to achieve 50 GW of wind power by 2030. In recent years, Ørsted has signed major contracts with almost 200 UK suppliers, investing £4.5 billion in the UK supply chain, with a further £8.6 billion to be added over the next decade. Ørsted now has 13 operational offshore wind farms in the UK – with a capacity of 6.2 GW – providing green energy to more than 7 million British homes. Currently, the UK’s combined onshore and offshore wind capacity stands at 25.5 GW, enough to power 19 million homes per year, which is two-thirds of all UK homes, according to RenewableUK.