UK energy regulator Ofgem has selected Diamond Transmission Partners as the preferred bidder to own and operate the high voltage (HV) transmission link to the 353MW Galloper offshore wind farm for the next 20 years.
Image: The £1.5bn Galloper Offshore Wind Farm in UK. Photo courtesy of innogy SE.
Diamond Transmission Partners is a consortium comprising Mitsubishi and HICL Infrastructure. It was selected by Ofgem through a tender process where bidders compete to become Offshore Transmission Owners (OFTOs).
Ofgem estimates value of the transmission assets to be £329.1m, subject to its ongoing cost assessment process. Once the final value of the assets is assessed by Ofgem, the preferred bidder will pay this amount to the developer.
The UK regulatory authority also stated that Mari Energy Transmission is the reserve bidder for the project. The reserve bidder may replace the preferred bidder if it fails to satisfy the preferred bidder matters, make the preferred bidder payment, or withdraws or is disqualified from the tender process.
Since the introduction of OFTO regime in 2009 by Ofgem and the UK Government, winning bidders have invested more than £3.3bn in links and generation assets. These have connected more than 5GW of offshore wind farms.
The Galloper wind farm, which began operations in March this year, is located about 30km off the coast of Suffolk. It is powered by 56 of Siemens’ 6.3MW turbines. The wind farm can generate enough electricity to power over 380,700 average UK homes.
It is owned by a consortium comprising innogy SE, Siemens Financial Services, Sumitomo, ESB and a consortium managed by Green Investment Group and Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets.
The wind farm created nearly 700 jobs during the construction phase and 90 long term jobs during the operational phase.
On 16 November, a groundbreaking ceremony was conducted at Harwich International Port, to begin the construction of a £10m operations & maintenance (O&M) base for the offshore wind farm.