Orsted wins 3.5 GW in offshore wind contracts at UK auction

Orsted, a Danish company, has been awarded contracts worth 3,480 megawatts of capacity for its Hornsea 3 offshore wind projects and Hornsea 4 onshore wind power project in Britain's most recent renewables auction.

Hornsea 4 announced that it had secured a contract-for-difference (CfD), for 2,400 megawatts (MW) of capacity, at a strike rate of 58.87 British Pounds per Megawatt Hour (MWh), in 2012 inflation-indexed prices.

Hornsea 3 received 54.23 pounds for each MWh of a share of 1,080MW in the British CfD auction on Tuesday, also known as Round Six.

Hornsea 3 had been awarded a CfD for 2,85 GW of capacity in round four, 2022 at 37.35 pounds/MWh. However, this year's bid round allowed a part of the previous contracts to be returned and re-bid to reflect higher costs.

Rasmus Errboe said, "We are pleased with the allocation round 6 which is an important landmark for two of the largest offshore wind farms in the world."

Orsted announced that Hornsea 3 will be the largest offshore wind farm in the world with a 2,955-MW capacity.

Orsted is targeting commissioning the project by the end of 2020.

Orsted's stock price rose 4.0% by 0737 GMT. Nora Buli, reporting from Oslo; editing by Terje Solsvik

(source: Reuters)