Ofgem Awards Gwynt y Môr Transmission Link Licence

Gwynt y Môr OFTO plc has been awarded a licence by Ofgem to own and operate the £352 million transmission link to the Gwynt y Môr offshore wind farm.

It is the largest offshore transmission (OFTO) project to date to be financed through the capital markets.

Gwynt y Môr OFTO plc is owned by the Balfour Beatty Equitix Consortium, a consortium comprising Balfour Beatty Investments Limited and Equitix Limited. It was selected by Ofgem through a competitive process, in which bidders compete to become offshore transmission owners (OFTOs), and will now own and operate the link for the next 20 years.

Martin Crouch, senior partner for transmission, said: “With the licence granted for Gwynt y Môr OFTO, the OFTO regime has attracted over £2.2 billion of new investment into the UK transmission sector to date. This is just a part of up to £10 billion of investment in offshore and cross-border investment that we are expecting by the end of decade. The regulatory frameworks devised by Ofgem are key to attracting the new investment needed to extend grid networks to connect renewable energy projects, and to enable planned interconnectors with European partners to be built.”