Diamond Transmission Partners Preferred Burbo Bank Extension OFTO

Ofgem has appointed Diamond Transmission Partners (DTP), a consortium comprising Mitsubishi Corporation and HICL Infrastructure Company, as the preferred bidder to own and operate the offshore transmission link to the Burbo Bank Extension wind farm for the next 20 years.

The estimated value of the transmission assets, currently owned by DONG Energy, KIRKBI (mother company of LEGO Group), and PKA, is GBP 180.6 million, subject to Ofgem’s ongoing cost assessment process, with a final transfer value of the transmission assets to be published as part of the licence grant process.

This completes the procurement process of Tender Round 4 of the offshore transmission owner (OFTO) regime, which saw the lowest bids to date as a proportion of the asset value, according to Ofgem. This further demonstrates the value of continuing to use competitive tendering to provide the best value for consumers, Ofgem added.

In September 2016, Ofgem announced a shortlist of five bidders competing to own and run the GBP 230 million transmission link to the Burbo Bank Extension offshore wind farm. The shortlisted bidders included Balfour Beatty Equitix Consortium, Dalmore Capital Limited, Diamond Transmission Partners, Mari Energy Transmission, and Transmission Capital Partners.

The 258MW Burbo Bank Extension offshore wind farm, located in the Liverpool Bay, will power 230,000 UK homes using renewable energy.

The last of 32 MHI Vestas 8MW turbines was installed at the wind farm site in December 2016, and the wind farm was fully commissioned this April. Burbo Bank Extension was inaugurated on 17 May 2017.