Ofgem awards transmission licence for Hornsea One wind farm grid link
04/03/2021 10:15
LONDON, March 4 (Reuters) - Britain's energy market
regulator Ofgem said on Thursday it has awarded a licence for a
grid link to Hornsea One offshore wind farm after securing 1.2
billion pounds ($1.7 billion) of investment.
Ofgem awarded the licence to own and operate the
transmission assets linking Hornsea One to the British mainland
to Diamond Transmission Partners, a consortium led by Japan's
Mitsubishi Corporation 7280.T .
The 1.2 gigawatt (GW) wind farm off the coast of Yorkshire
is being developed by Ørsted ORSTED.CO and Global
Infrastructure Partners who originally estimated the value of
the transmissions assets at nearly 1.4 billion pounds.
Following an assessment of the final project costs by Ofgem,
the amount Diamond Transmission Partners will pay to Ørsted and
Global Infrastructure Partners is 1.175 billion pounds.
The UK government has set a target to have 40 GW of offshore
wind capacity by 2030, almost four times the existing capacity,
to help reach net zero emissions by 2050.
New electricity grid links are needed to deliver this power
to homes and businesses in Britain.
Under regulatory framework, bidders compete to buy such
links from wind farm developers. In return, the winning bidder
receives a guaranteed level of income which is set by Ofgem for
running the link for up to 25 years.
Ofgem said it has awarded 21 licences through this process,
with a total of 5.7 billion pounds being invested in grid links
for 7.8 GW of offshore wind capacity.
($1 = 0.7177 pounds)
(Reporting by Nina Chestney; editing by Jason Neely)
((nina.chestney@thomsonreuters.com; +44 (0) 020 7513 5674;
Reuters Messaging:
nina.chestney.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))