Summary
The Hornsea Two project, led by Ørsted, is the world’s largest offshore wind farm, capable of powering over 1.4 million UK homes with clean electricity. A critical part of the scheme was the 38km onshore cable route from the new Hornsea 2 substation to National Grid’s North Killingholme substation in Lincolnshire.
Delivered by VolkerStevin (VolkerFitzpatrick’s sister business), the works included three 220kV export circuits, fibre optics, and 13.5km of horizontal directional drills (HDD) at 62 crossing points. We supported this nationally significant infrastructure project by supplying ENA TS 12-24 C1+ ClearDuct beadless ducting, ensuring safe, reliable, and compliant protection of the HV cables.
Project Challenge
A project of this scale and complexity posed multiple challenges:
Cable protection – Three 220kV export circuits required robust ducting to safeguard cables during installation and long-term operation.
Challenging ground and crossings – The 38km route included roads, railways, and waterways, necessitating trenching, joint bays, and HDD installations.
Logistics and environment – Construction stretched across a 40m-wide corridor through rural Lincolnshire, where efficiency and safety were critical.
Standards compliance – As part of a National Grid connection, all ducting had to meet ENA TS 12-24 C1+ specifications for HV applications.
Solution
We supplied ENA TS 12-24 C1+ ClearDuct beadless ducting, which provided a fully compliant and installation-friendly system for this major HV cable route.
Key contributions included:
ENA compliance – certified to ENA TS 12-24 C1+, guaranteeing suitability for National Grid high-voltage use.
Beadless smooth bore – reduced pulling resistance, protecting cable sheaths during HDD crossings of railways, roads, and waterways.
Durability – PE ducting ensured resistance to impact, ground movement, and moisture ingress across the 38km route.
Efficiency in installation – lightweight, flexible ducting supported VolkerStevin’s continuous improvement methodology, with increased welding operations due to ClearDuct optimised welding parameters.
Alignment with sustainability goals – minimising joints and simplifying handling helped reduce plant movements and improve site safety, complementing the project’s innovations in haul road construction and retaining wall installation.
The system formed an essential part of a project that also included 23 triple joint bays and 36km of installed cabling. On completion, all HV, LV, and fibre systems achieved a 100% test pass rate, demonstrating the reliability of the installation.
