October 26, 2022 6.30 am This story is over 27 months old

The Power of Grimsby: Americans hail Hornsea Wind Farm as world leader

The world’s largest offshore wind farm is by Grimsby’s port

By Local Democracy Reporter

One of the most famous television news broadcasts on the planet, CBS News’ 60 Minutes, has been over to Grimsby to cover the story of the world’s largest offshore wind farm.

60 Minutes is among the most-watched news broadcasts across the world, filming investigative reports, feature segments and high-profile interviews for generations and developing a name as one of America’s most reliable and informed news sources.

For one of its more recent features, the CBS team packed bags and flew out to the coast of North East Lincolnshire, covering the innovation behind the world’s largest offshore wind farm fleet – a stone’s throw from the port of Grimsby.

The piece makes reference to U.S. President Joe Biden’s recent climate bill making wind power a priority, but states that America “have a long way to go” to compete with the planet’s leaders in the industry.

Within the bill, which has been brought into law, there is a goal in the United States to convert wind force in the open seas into power for 10 million American homes by 2030.

The area at the forefront of offshore wind power across the world is the Hornsea Wind Farm, some 55 miles east of the port of Grimsby in North East Lincolnshire.

The blades for Hornsea One are 75m long. | Photo Orsted

Hornsea Wind Farm, run by Danish-based energy supply firm Orsted, was completed in 2019 and opened a year later. A second wind farm nearby, called Hornsea Two and situated alongside the first, entered full operation in August 2022.

It is the largest crop of offshore wind turbines on the planet, boasting more than 300 across 335 square miles, with enough electricity generated to power more than two million homes every single day.

The turbines were assembled on-shore before being shipped out to see, with expert engineers saying one blade revolution can power a UK home for 24 hours.

In a feature called The Power of Grimsby, CBS sent a team out to Hornsea Wind Farm to meet a few engineers and workers at the site, learning more about how the farms work and how wind can be transformed into energy.

The GMS Endeavour was used as accommodation for technicians during Hornsea One’s construction. Photo: Orsted

Reporter Sharyn Alfonsi spoke to Bridie Salmon, 24, who has the unenviable task of scaling and servicing the turbines, about the intensity of the task she regularly faces.

Bridie says that each turbine is half the size of the Eiffel Tower when you scale to the top of the blades, standing at nearly 600ft high. Each blade is roughly the length of the world’s biggest passenger jet, weighing almost 30 tonnes a piece.

Regular reference is made to this being Grimsby’s “second act” following the significant impact it had as a fishing town in the 1950s and 60s, boasting the largest fishing fleet on Earth.

You can watch the feature and read the full piece, complete with interviews from Bridie the turbine scaler, and Orsted Vice President Benj Sykes, by visiting the CBS News website here.


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