Hornsea 1 Wind Farm


Powering over 1 million homes with green electricity

Hornsea 1, located in the North Sea, generates enough green energy to power over 1 million UK homes. The wind farm comprises 174 turbines and covers an area of 407 square kilometres (157.2 square miles), which is over five times the size of the city of Hull.

 

  

About the project


Located 120 km (74.6 miles) off the Yorkshire coast in the North Sea, Hornsea 1 is our 12th operational wind farm in the UK. It was the world's first offshore wind farm to exceed 1 GW in capacity and produces enough green energy to power well over one million homes. 

Hornsea 1 became fully operational in 2019 and is operated and maintained from our East Coast Hub in Grimsby which supports a workforce of more than 370 people. 

Discover how offshore wind is transforming coastal communities

The offshore wind farm is owned by Ørsted (50%) as well as partners Greencoat, TRIG & Equitix, GLIL & Octopus Renewables.
 

Hornsea 1 location 

Map showing the location of Hornsea 1 offshore wind farm

How big is Hornsea 1? 

Image showing the construction of a Hornsea 1 wind turbine
Turbine installation at Hornsea 1

Hornsea 1 spans a huge area of approximately 407 square kilometres (157.2 square miles) – this is equal to five times the size of the city of Hull or 58,500 times the size of Blundell Park, home of Grimsby Town F.C.

With a combined total capacity of 1.2 GW, Hornsea 1 held the title of the world’s largest wind farm until its sister project, Hornsea 2, came into operation in August 2022. 

The wind farm comprises 174 wind turbines of 7 megawatts (MW). Each one is 190 metres tall – larger than the Humber Bridge concrete towers or the Gherkin building in London – with 75m long blades. A Hornsea 1 turbine can power a UK home for over a day with a single rotation.

Image showing the size and scale of a Hornsea 1 wind turbine
Offshore construction started in January 2018, when the first monopile foundation was installed. It has taken a whole host of contractors, suppliers and Ørsted employees to reach this landmark with over 8,000 people having been inducted to work offshore at Hornsea One’s site.

Due to the distance from shore, the offshore construction team based themselves on site, 120km out to sea, to help ensure the project kept safe and to schedule in dynamic weather conditions.

Hornsea 1 legacy

Maximising the opportunities for the Humber region and UK industry

We have invested over £1 billion in the Humber region, including more than £45 million directly into local community, education, and skills development in the region to date, such as the £1m donation to the Grimsby’s Horizon Youth Zone, with significant further investments planned.

We are also helping to support a growing UK supply chain. In the past five years alone, we have placed major contracts with hundreds of UK suppliers with £4.5 billion invested to date and a further £8.6 billion expected to be invested over the next decade.

Discover the offshore wind supply chain

Ørsted is playing a leading role in delivering the Offshore Wind Sector Deal, an ambitious partnership between the UK Government and the offshore wind industry that will see 50GW of offshore wind by 2030.

In addition to supporting the continued development of the UK’s offshore wind clusters, including the Humber, North Wales/North West and East Anglia, Ørsted is also involved in a number of collaborative business support programmes, which act as a catalyst for innovation and seek to leverage skills and capabilities from adjacent sectors. This includes the University of Hull’s Aura initiative, the Carbon Trust’s Offshore Wind Accelerator, Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult’s Fit For Offshore Renewables initiative and NOF Energy.

Images of Hornsea 1

Scroll to view in construction and operational images of Hornsea 1 offshore wind farm.
Hornsea One 174 wind turbines
Hornsea One turbine blades
Hornsea One turbine
Monopile installation at Hornsea 1 offshore wind farm
GMS Endeavour
Ørsted's Service Operations Vessel (SOV) in the construction of Hornsea 1

Hornsea 1 supporting communities


East Coast Community Benefit Fund 

Our community grants help support local groups and organisations in the coastal regions where we construct and operate our offshore wind farms. Our three Community Benefit Funds — Burbo Bank Extension Community Fund, East Coast Community Fund and Walney Extension Community Fund — have so far awarded over £8 million to hundreds of local social and environmental projects along the East and West coasts.

Supporting projects in coastal areas of Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and North Norfolk: 

Credit: Cruse Bereavement Care
Photo credit: Cruse Bereavement Care

The East Coast Community Fund is linked to the Hornsea projects and Racebank offshore wind farm and has £465,000 available to local organisations each year. Since the Fund was launched in 2016, over £2 million has been awarded to 204 projects in coastal areas of Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and North Norfolk.

Our Funds are administered by independent grant-making charity GrantScape, with decision-making supported by local Advisory Groups made up of community specialists who benefit from a strong and deep understanding of the local community and environment.

Discover more about our Community Benefits Funds

We’re focused on engaging with communities

Here you can read our Hornsea 1 community newsletters published during project construction:

Hornsea 1 turbines in the North Sea
UK MEDIA RELATIONS

Hornsea 1 media contact

Louise Thompson

UK Media Relations Manager

Tel: +44 (0) 7979 165849

loeth@orsted.co.uk

Hornsea 2 Offshore Wind Farm

Powering well over 1.4 million homes with green electricity

Hornsea Two Offshore Wind Farm is located approximately 89 km (55.3 miles) off the Yorkshire coast in the North Sea.

Insights - The Expert Take

What does it take to build the world’s largest offshore wind farm?

Patrick Harnett, UK Vice President and Programme Director, discusses what it took to achieve the Herculean task of building Hornsea 2 in the midst of a global pandemic.