Cadeler to Install All Hornsea Three Monopiles and Half of Wind Turbine Array

Cadeler and Ørsted signed two contracts for the 2.9 GW Hornsea Three offshore wind farm in the UK today, 25 April, at the WindEurope Exhibition in Bella Centre, Copenhagen: one for the installation of monopile foundations and one for the installation of around half of the project’s wind turbines.

Illustration; Photo source: Cadeler

In a press release issued today, Cadeler said the two contracts together constitute a “very large contract award”, which the company classifies as being worth between EUR 500-700 million.

Work under the contract for the transportation and installation (T&I) of monopile foundations, for which the companies the reservation agreement for this project back in August 2022, is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2026 and finish by the end of that year.

Cadeler says this contract will position the company in a completely new and strategic business area as a full-service T&I provider in the foundations space. While the company has already installed 500 monopiles across different wind farms so far, including Ørsted’s Hornsea Two offshore wind farm, this will be the first time Cadeler is in charge of the whole T&I foundations scope.

“This marks the beginning of a new and strategic direction for Cadeler, and I am happy to finally unveil what we have been working on for a long time together with our good business partners at Ørsted”, said Mikkel Gleerup, CEO at Cadeler.

“We have specifically designed our newbuild vessels and developed a competent team to handle all aspects of projects within the foundations scope, and we look forward to playing an important part in this ambitious and record-breaking wind farm project.”

Hornsea Three’s XXL monopiles will be supplied by Haizea Wind Group which was awarded the supply contract last year.

Cadeler’s contract for the installation of wind turbines will see the company installing around half of the units using one of its two newbuild X-class vessels.

Hornsea Three will comprise up to 231 wind turbines, with the model that will be used yet to be announced. Ørsted has also signed a contract with Havfram Wind for the installation of wind turbines at its Hornsea Three offshore wind farm.

Wind turbine installation is expected to begin just as the foundations project is completed, around the fourth quarter of 2026, and is anticipated to finish in 2027.