It is Hornsea 2, and it supplies energy to millions of people. The news comes as Liz Truss — a prime minister with little interest in the energy transition — takes office in London.
A few days ago, Danish energy company Ørsted announced that the offshore wind farm known as Hornsea 2 is fully operational. The enormous installation stands approximately 69 kilometres off the coast of Yorkshire, in the United Kingdom. Hornsea 2 is the new largest offshore wind farm in the world, taking the record from its "older sibling" Hornsea 1. With a surface area of 462 square kilometres, Hornsea 2 covers a larger area than Venice.
This fascinating "wind forest" rising from the waters of the North Sea can rely on the constant motion of no fewer than 165 turbines standing 200 metres tall, whose tips carry blades 80 metres long. According to project director Patrick Hanrett, "a single rotation of one of the blades is enough to generate the daily energy needed by a home."
The park's 100 per cent operational output enables it to produce more than 1.3 gigawatts (GW) — which Ørsted estimates as sufficient to meet the energy needs of 2.5 million homes — adding to the already considerable offshore wind capacity already operating off the British coast. The energy produced in the North Sea by harnessing the power of the wind then reaches the shore via cables that make landfall near Grimsby, in Lincolnshire, and from there spreads across the entire country. An infrastructure in continuous expansion, particularly given that not far from Hornsea 2, projects number 3 and 4 are expected to take shape.
The news of Hornsea 2 reaching full capacity comes in the midst of the energy "perfect storm", as the European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, described it in August. The outbreak of the war in Ukraine and the consequent impact on Russian gas supplies have laid bare the energy dependence that Europe has maintained on politically unstable non-EU countries, above all Russia. While concern over fossil fuels is understandable for the present and immediate future of the Union — especially following Russia's decision to shut down the Nord Stream 1 pipeline — it is also worth considering the momentum this emergency has given European countries towards a cooperative approach to investing in alternative energy sources. A first example comes from the island of Bornholm, in the Baltic Sea, where the governments of Germany — one of the most dependent on Russian gas and the endpoint of Nord Stream — and Denmark are collaborating to build an offshore wind hub. Denmark also features among the eight countries bordering the Baltic Sea that have reached an agreement to increase sevenfold the energy output from a shared installation built in the Baltic.
What remains to be seen is whether and what approach the United Kingdom and its new prime minister, Liz Truss, will adopt on the issue of energy and cooperation with the Union. The North Sea remains the primary context to look to. For now, the British Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is collaborating with neighbouring countries, including Germany, within the framework of the North seas energy cooperation, a forum that promotes the growth of renewable energies. "London wishes to continue in this direction," the head of energy at the British embassy in Berlin declared.
There is no doubt, however, that the arrival of the new Conservative leader has alarmed British environmentalists, after Truss herself declared that she will resume drilling in the North Sea to tackle the energy crisis, ruling out any suggestion of energy rationing or reducing citizens' consumption. Truss is also known for certain positions against the installation of new wind and solar farms. As Ben Goldsmith, chairman of the Conservative environment network and a longstanding supporter of Boris Johnson, told the British daily the Guardian: "Truss is not known for her passion for nature. She has not made a name for herself as an environmental leader." These are not the most promising conditions for those who believe in a cooperative future for the production and distribution of clean energy in Europe.
