Heerema Marine Contractors has completed installation of the second offshore converter station (OCS) for Ørsted’s Hornsea 3 offshore wind project, using the semi-submersible crane vessel Sleipnir.
The latest operation completes installation of the two offshore converter stations planned for Hornsea 3. Sleipnir also installed the project’s first OCS in March 2026.
The second station is supported by a 60 m-high jacket installed in 37 m of water. Its location is 5 m deeper than that of the first OCS, requiring a jacket that is 6 m taller. Both stations reach 70 m above sea level.
Heerema Fabrication Group designed and fabricated the two jacket structures at its Vlissingen facilities in the Netherlands. The first jacket, Link 01, was completed and transported to Sleipnir in March before its offshore installation.
The topsides for the two stations were constructed at Aibel’s Map Ta Phut yard in Thailand. They were then transported more than 13,000 nautical miles to Haugesund, Norway, where high-voltage equipment supplied by Hitachi Energy was installed and commissioning work was carried out.
Aibel is responsible for the engineering, procurement, construction and installation of the two HVDC converter platforms under its contract with Ørsted. Hitachi Energy is supplying two HVDC Light converter systems for the offshore transmission system.
According to Ørsted, the design, transportation and installation process for the two offshore converter stations took four and a half years and involved thousands of skilled workers.
With both offshore stations now installed, the two HVDC platforms are in place for the Hornsea 3 transmission system.
