Ofgem today announced shortlists of bidders competing to own and operate transmission links to the Dudgeon, Rampion and Race Bank wind farms, situated off the coasts of Norfolk and Sussex.
Balfour Beatty Investments, Equitix, Diamond Transmission Partners, and Transmission Capital Partners are on the list for all three, along with Mari Energy Transmission shortlisted for Dudgeon and Rampion, and Triton Transmission for Race Bank.
Ofgem said the shortlists show there is strong competition to own and operate the links, which will help keep costs low for consumers.
The bidders will now go through to the final Invitation to Tender (ITT) stage, after which Ofgem will appoint the OFTO for each link. The OFTO will receive a guaranteed revenue stream for 20 years under the terms of their licence, subject to the availability of their assets.
The three links are the first of five to be tendered under the fifth round (TR5) of the Offshore Transmission Owner (OFTO) regime. The second tranche of TR5 will commence on 13 March 2017 for the Walney Extension and Galloper projects.
The fifth round has an estimated value of GBP 2 billion and, with the five offshore wind projects having a combined capacity of 2.3GW, represents the biggest tender round to date.
Dudgeon is located 32km off the coast of Cromer in North Norfolk, and is being developed by Statoil ASA, Masdar, and Statkraft AS.
Rampion is jointly owned by EON (50.1%), Enbridge (24.9%) and Green Investment Bank (25%). The wind farm is situated 13km off the south coast of England, near Sussex.
DONG Energy’s Race Bank is located in the North Sea, 27km north of Blakeney point off the coast of Norfolk, and 28km east of Chapel St. Leonards off the coast of Lincolnshire.
Developed at a site approximately 19km from shore in the Irish Sea, DONG Energy’s Walney Extension contains two phases. For the purposes of TR5, both phases will be treated as a single qualifying project and one licence will be awarded to an OFTO to operate the Walney Extension, Ofgem said last year.
Galloper is a project equally owned by RWE, Siemens Financial Services, UK Green Investment Bank and Macquarie Capital. The wind farm is situated 27km off the east coast of England, adjacent to the Greater Gabbard project.