UK’s energy regulator the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem) has shortlisted bidders to operate the transmission links for three offshore wind farms, with 2.5GW of capacity, worth £2.7bn.
Image: Ofgem shortlists bidders for three offshore wind transmission links. Photo: Courtesy of David Kaspar Willmann/Pixabay
In this sixth round, Ofgem selected bidders for the 588MW Beatrice, 1.2GW Hornsea Project One and 714MW East Anglia ONE offshore wind farms. And, the bidders include Aegir Energy Transmission, Core Transmission Partners, Diamond Transmission Partners, Equitix TEPCO Consortium, Transmission Capital Partners.
Aegir Energy Transmission is a consortium of Macquarie Corporate and Frontier Power. Core Transmission Partners is a consortium of BBGI SICAV and Semco Maritime. Diamond Transmission Partners is a consortium of Mitsubishi Corporation and Chubu Electric Power.
Equitix Limited and TEPCO Power Grid formed the Equitix TEPCO Consortium. Transmission Capital Partners is a consortium of International Public Partnerships Limited and Transmission Capital Partners.
As per Ofgem, the shortlisted bidders will now have to go through to the final Invitation to Tender (ITT) stage, which will be staggered for each project. After the ITT stage, the regulator said that it will appoint an offshore transmission owner (OFTO) for each link. The OFTO will receive a guaranteed revenue stream for 25 years under the license terms.
The ITT stage for the Beatrice offshore wind farm will begin shortly. For Hornsea Project One, the ITT is expected to begin this July and for East Anglia ONE, the ITT is expected to begin next February.
Ofgem said that it will announce details about the preferred bidder for each project after, each ITT evaluation stage is completed.
Last month, Ofgem approved the proposal by SSE to build the 600MW subsea electricity transmission link from Shetland to mainland Scotland. However, it rejected another of SSE’s proposal to build 600MW transmission link to connect the Western Isles to the mainland based on two Lewis Wind Power wind farm projects, stating that there will be a risk for consumers paying for significantly underutilised link.
SSE’s transmission link between Shetland to mainland Scotland is expected to cost about £709m and would be completed by 2024. The approval is also subject to the company’s demonstration of securing subsidies from the UK Government’s Contracts for Difference (CfD) auction, by the end of this year.