Ørsted boosts UK regional supply chain in East Anglia
Ørsted, the world’s leading offshore wind developer, is helping boost the UK regional supply chain in East Anglia according to its UK Supply Chain Map 2026.
The map showed 35 companies in East Anglia (14% of the map’s total) working in partnership with Ørsted. It found that East Anglia has developed particular specialisms for the offshore wind industry in consultancy services, vessels, site investigations, operations and maintenance, civil engineering and construction and environmental impact assessments.
One of the firms featuring in the UK Supply Chain Map 2026 is Norwich-based Ordtek, part of Venterra Group which was founded in 2012. It has grown from a team of five employees when it first started working with Ørsted to around 20 now. The company provides advice on reducing the risk of disturbing unexploded military weapons during offshore construction.
Keith Higgins, Specialist consultant at Ordtek, said: “Our two companies have gone through a learning curve together as the offshore wind industry has grown and matured. Through years of experience working with Ørsted, we’ve established ways of working that are much more formalised and standardised.”
Other companies in East Anglia that feature in the map include Lowestoft-based Northern Offshore Services, which supply vessels for Hornsea 3, and has worked with Ørsted for many years, as well as marine contractors Red7 Marine in Great Yarmouth and Cambridge-based environmental impact assessors NIRAS Group, both of which worked on Hornsea 3’s Artificial Nesting Sites for kittiwake, an endangered sea bird.
The 2026 UK Supply Chain map also found:
- 80(31%) of suppliers are working on Hornsea 3, which will be the world’s single largest offshore wind farm on completion, located 120km off the coast of Norfolk. This demonstrates how flagship UK projects like this create many opportunities for local companies. A steady pipeline of projects for the years ahead means the supply chain will be able to invest and grow.
- 129 suppliers (51%) have had two or more contracts from Ørsted within the last five years, showing Ørsted’s commitment to ongoing relationships with suppliers.
- 115 (45%) of suppliers are based within the regions of our major areas of operations and construction (North West, Yorkshire and the Humber, North East and East Anglia) – underlining the value of the offshore wind industry to regional economies, employment and growth.
Our principal contractors in East Anglia are Hitachi Energy, responsible for our HVDC electrical systems and VolkerFitzpatrickwho have undertaken the onshore cable installation.
Energy Minister Michael Shanks said:
“This supply chain milestone for Ørsted is proof that our clean energy mission is backing UK businesses to support skilled jobs and growth across the country. The clean energy transition is the economic opportunity of the 21st century, creating hundreds of thousands of new jobs across fast-expanding industries, like offshore wind.”
Benj Sykes, Head of UK at Ørsted said:
"We rely on a vast network of companies across the UK to deliver our wind farms [including in East Anglia]. We are proud to have supported suppliers providing a range of areas of expertise many of whom are located near to our areas of development and operation. We are keen to strengthen our relationships with local supply chain partners now and into the future.”
RenewableUK’s Deputy Chief Executive Jane Cooper said:
“This map shows that thanks to Ørsted’s excellent work in engaging with innovative offshore wind supply chain companies, it is creating jobs in all over the UK and especially in regions which need economic regeneration. Ørsted’s Hornsea 3 project is a great example of this, with 80 companies working on it.
"We have a great opportunity to expand further, as our Industrial Growth Plan shows how we can boost the UK’s economy by £25 billion between now and 2035 by focussing on manufacturing high-value components including more blades, towers, foundations and cables, as well as providing high-quality services, for offshore wind projects here and abroad. The supply chain companies fulfilling contracts for Ørsted are already boosting economic growth here and exporting their knowledge and expertise worldwide.”
Further information about Ørsted’s supply chain and the full supply chain map is available here: Wind Energy Supply Chain | Ørsted
