The first of two offshore converter station topsides, planned to be installed at the Hornsea 3 offshore wind farm in the UK, is on its way to Europe following the sailaway from Map Ta Phut in Thailand.

Completed by Ørsted’s Thailand-based team in partnership with Aibel and Hitachi Energy, the structure once installed will rise 70m above sea level.

The offshore converter platforms will be located in the North Sea. These platforms will be unmanned, operated from shore and accessed for maintenance by a service operations vessel or helicopter.

The topside needed 38 special self-propelled motor transporters – or SMPTs – with 380 axels under the support frames to move it onto the vessel in preparation for the voyage.

It is now on a 55 day journey of more than 13,000 nautical miles to Haugesund, Norway for the installation and commissioning of high voltage equipment so it is ready for use offshore.

 The structure will travel on the heavy transportation vessel BigLift Barentsz.

Hornsea 3 Offshore Wind Farm will deliver enough green energy to power more than three million UK homes. An £8.5bn infrastructure project, it is located in the North Sea, around 120km off the Norfolk coast and 160km off the Yorkshire coast.

Luke Bridgman, managing director of Hornsea 3, said: “The sailaway of the first of our Hornsea 3 offshore converter station topsides is an important milestone.

“It marks the culmination of three years of hard work by our teams in Europe and Thailand, and the start of our next phase in delivering the world’s single biggest offshore wind farm.

“This huge structure is an impressive piece of engineering, which so far has been completed safely, efficiently, on time and on budget. It’s a testament to the skill of our workers, as well as a visual aid demonstrating the complexity and scale of Hornsea 3.”

Ørsted signed the contract to provide offshore converter stations with Aibel and Hitachi Energy in 2022.