Delivery of Substations expands Sembcorp Marine’s footprint in renewable and clean energy sector; highlights the Group’s diversification endeavours

Sembcorp Marine has successfully completed the fabrication of the Offshore Substation (OSS) and Reactive Compensation Station (RCS) (collectively, “Substations”) for Ørsted Wind Power subsidiary Optimus Wind Limited. The Substations set off on a voyage to the Hornsea Two Offshore Wind Farm from Sembcorp Marine Admiralty Yard today.

Constructed at Sembcorp Marine’s integrated facilities, the OSS is the largest AC offshore substation and together with the RCS, they have a combined weight of 10,200 tonnes. In addition to fabrication, Sembcorp Marine spearheaded the engineering, procurement, hook-up and commissioning works for the Substations.

Located in the North Sea some 89 km off the Yorkshire Coast, Hornsea Two spans an offshore area of 462 km2 and will be the world’s largest wind farm when it goes into operation in 2022. With capacity of 1.4 GW, the farm will provide power to more than 1.3 million homes in the United Kingdom.

“We thank Ørsted Wind Power and Optimus Wind for their trust in Sembcorp Marine’s capability to deliver these functional engineering solutions to their desired quality,” said Sembcorp Marine Head of Offshore Platforms Mr Samuel Wong. “These Substations, along with the OSS and RCS jacket foundations that were delivered by Sembcorp Marine in August 2020, demonstrate the Group’s commitment to meet the challenge of delivering these structures safely amid this pandemic.”

Patrick Harnett, Senior Programme Director, said, “With plans to have the wind farm operational in 2022, this is a very exciting milestone for Hornsea Two. In 2019, Ørsted opened the UK’s largest operations base for offshore wind at Grimsby’s Royal Dock, providing a total of 400 jobs for local people. Hornsea Two will be maintained and operated from this base, creating a long-term operations hubs, meaning Ørsted will provide careers for years to come – offshore wind farms last at least 25 years.”

The Substations will reach their destination at end-September 2021 for integration with their jackets. Installation of the OSS and RCS jacket foundations was completed in October 2020 by Sleipnir, the world’s strongest semi-submersible crane vessel built by Sembcorp Marine.

Seizing opportunities and accelerating expansion into renewable and clean energy

According to independent energy research firm, Rystad Energy, global offshore wind expenditure is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 11% this decade to reach US$126 billion per year by 2030 1 . Having identified this megatrend, Sembcorp Marine has since 2015 embarked on a strategic business transformation leveraging its integrated offshore and marine (O&M) engineering capabilities to proactively diversify its business and product segments towards the provision of clean energy solutions.

Sembcorp Marine President and CEO, Mr Wong Weng Sun said, “The Group’s diversification and expansion into clean energy solutions segments, including renewable energy and gas value chain, serves to align its business with the global shift towards environmentally-responsible solutions. This proactive diversification and expansion strategy is bearing fruit. Green energy solutions comprised approximately 34% of the Group’s net order book of S$1.78 billion as at 30 June 2021.

“As Sembcorp Marine accelerates its transformation and positions itself for the global shift towards a low carbon economy, it will continue to harness opportunities across the entire O&M and renewable energy sectors, including clean solutions such as electrification, gas value chain, ocean living, as well as carbon capture and storage solutions.”