Danish firm Ørsted has awarded contracts to Switzerland-based Hitachi Energy and Norway’s Aibel to connect the 2.85GW Hornsea 3 offshore wind project to the UK power grid.

Hitachi Energy will provide two high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) Light converter systems to enable green power transmission from the Hornsea 3 project, which will be located more than 120km off the UK’s east coast.

Aibel will be responsible for engineering, procurement, construction and installation in the delivery of two HVDC converter platforms.

The contracts are subject to a final investment decision (FID) on the Hornsea 3 project, which is expected by the end of this year.

Ørsted UK programme vice-president Patrick Harnett said: “The Ørsted vision is a world that runs entirely on green energy and the Hornsea projects are a significant step towards this goal in the UK.

“Together with Aibel, we are demonstrating that renewables like offshore wind are a huge part of the world’s sustainability journey. Hornsea 3 will not just provide low-cost, clean energy for millions of homes in the UK, it will also deliver thousands of high-quality jobs and billions of pounds of investment in the offshore wind supply chain in the UK and beyond.”

Aibel plans to build platform topsides for the Hornsea 3 project at its yard in Thailand.

Subsequently, platform topsides will be transported to Haugesund, Norway, where they will be equipped with Hitachi Energy’s advanced HVDC converter valve technology, prior to final completion and commissioning.

Aibel is planning to deliver the platform topside for the Hornsea 3 Link 1 in Haugesund in the first quarter of 2025.