Ørsted could face delays on two offshore wind projects due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The construction of offshore substation topsides for the two projects, the 1.4 GW Hornsea Project Two in the UK and the 900 MW Greater Changhua 1 & 2a in Taiwan, was paused after the Singaporean shipyards where they are being built were closed down for two months due to COVID-19, according to Henrik Poulsen, Ørsted’s President and CEO.
The two shipyards began opening up in June.
”The shipyards have now begun to slowly ramp-up again. Although we still expect to be able to complete both projects within our budget and time schedule, we see increased risk of delays; especially at Hornsea 2. We expect any delays to have a limited overall impact on project economics,” Poulsen said.
The two offshore substation topsides for the Hornsea Two wind farm are being constructed by Sembcorp Marine. The delivery of the topsides is scheduled for the first quarter of 2021.
Keppel FELS Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd, is constructing the two topsides for the Greater Changhua 1 and 2a project. The work scope of Keppel FELS is slated for completion in the third quarter of 2021.
Ørsted still expects to commission both wind farms in 2022, as initially planned.