NKT awarded HVDC cable supply contract for UK’s Hornsea 3

The firm, which also completed the power cable system for the 1.3GW Hornsea 2 project in the final quarter of 2022, said the order value of the new contract is approximately €500 million. 

The Hornsea 3 contract comprises the design, manufacturing, jointing and termination of the export power cable system. It includes two circuits with a route length of 170 km of 320kV DC offshore cable, 50 km of 320kV DC onshore cable as well as four circuits for a 1.5-km route of 400kV AC onshore cable. 

The DC system will connect the wind turbines with the substation while the AC cables will connect the substation to the national grid.

Hornsea 3 is planned for a site in the North Sea, around 160 km off the Yorkshire coast of the UK. Ørsted last year secured a contract for difference (CfD) worth £37.35/MWh (€43.62/MWh at 2012 exchange rates) for the project in the UK’s fourth CfD tender round, but is yet to make a final investment decision on the project. 

Earlier this month, Duncan Clark, Ørsted’s head of UK and Ireland, warned that growing economic challenges since the auction meant the project was now “at risk”. 

Assuming the project goes ahead, NKT will produce the power cables at its high-voltage factory in Karlskrona, Sweden. The company said it plans to complete the project in 2027.

When Hornsea 3 comes online, the combined capacity of Hornsea 1, 2 and 3 will be in excess of 5GW, making it one of the world’s largest offshore wind zones. The UK government has a target of 50GW of offshore wind in operation by 2030. 

In February, the UK regulator pushed back a permitting decision on Ørsted’s planned 2.6GW Hornsea 4 project to July to allow the newly created department for energy security and net zero (DESNZ) to assess how the Danish developer will adequately protect native seabirds.

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