Consortium chosen to deliver £1.2bn offshore wind farm link
Ofgem has selected a consortium of Mitsubishi Corporation and HICL Infrastructure as the preferred bidder to own and operate the £1.2bn high-voltage transmission connection link serving Hornsea 2 offshore wind farm.
It is the fifth successful bid by Diamond Transmission Partners and, should a deal be completed, it will own and operate the asset for the next 24 years.
Green energy developer Ørsted’s 165 turbine Hornsea 2 wind farm is located off the Yorkshire coast and has a capacity of 1320MW.
Its associated transmission assets, which connect to National Grid’s electricity transmission network at Killingholme, are the most valuable yet brought to market through Ofgem’s Offshore Transmission Owners (OFTO) regime.
Akshay Kaul, Ofgem’s interim director of infrastructure and security of supply, said: “Connecting offshore wind farms such as Hornsea 2 to Great Britain’s electricity transmission network helps harness the power of North Sea wind to deliver renewable energy supplies to British consumers.
“The competitive OFTO regime helps ensure this is done at the least possible cost to consumers.”
Ofgem expects that up to 13 OFTO assets with a value of around £10bn will be tendered through the OFTO regime between 2023 and 2025.
This will help support the UK Government’s target of having 40GW of offshore wind generation operational by the end of this decade.
The OFTO regime has so far secured more than £7bn of private investment in offshore transmission assets which have connected more than 10GW of offshore wind generation to Great Britain’s electricity transmission network since it launched in 2009.
