Ofgem has today granted TC Lincs OFTO Limited a licence to own and operate the transmission link to the Lincs wind farm.
Lincs is located eight kilometres off the coast of Skegness and comprises 75 turbines generating 270MW, which is enough to provide clean energy to 200,000 homes.
The project links the 270MW Lincs windfarm to the National Grid via 100 kilometres of subsea cables and other related infrastructure including substations.
The Lincs project was tendered under the second tender round of the Offshore Transmission Owner (OFTO) regime, which totals over £1.4 billion of transmission assets. It is the tenth offshore transmission project to reach financial close and the second in this tender round.
Subject to TC Lincs OFTO Limited achieving the required performance standards, the annual payment made to it will be £24 million. It is lower than for any project completed during the first tender round, when considered as a percentage of the value of the transmission system. This represents further evidence of the innovation introduced by Ofgem’s competitive tendering process, which is helping to force down the costs of connecting offshore windfarms to the grid, benefiting consumers.
TC Lincs OFTO Limited, which will own and operate the £308 million transmission link to the Lincs wind farm, is owned by Transmission Capital Partners (TCP), a consortium comprising of Transmission Capital Partners LP and International Public Partnerships. Lincs is the fifth OFTO licence awarded to Transmission Capital Partners.
Lincs offshore wind farm is a joint venture owned by DONG Energy (25%), Centrica (50%), and Siemens Project Ventures (SPV) (25%).
Press Release