Ofgem has appointed Transmission Capital Partners as its preferred bidder for the 882MW Moray West offshore wind power plant.
To become the successful bidder, Transmission Capital Partners will have to complete several bureaucratic measures to the regulator’s satisfaction, including the establishment of the necessary arrangements to provide offshore transmission services for the project.
To do so will mean having all contractual, funding, regulatory and operational arrangements ready for the transfer of the transmission assets and the grant of the offshore transmission licence.
The Moray West offshore wind plant is owned and operated by Ocean Winds, an offshore wind joint venture between EDP Renewables and ENGIE. The 882MW power plant, comprising 60 turbines supplied by Siemens Gamesa, is due to become operational this year, in line with the projected commercial operations date.
As part of the offshore transmission regime, Ofgem oversees the offshore transmission owner (OFTO) tender scheme, which sees a company distinct from the offshore asset’s developer selected to own and operate the cabling that carries electricity generated at the offshore plant to the onshore network; Ofgem’s oversight is to ensure cost-effective and efficient electricity transmission.
The OFTO scheme launched in 2009, in an effort to encourage investment into offshore transmission links. Since the scheme launched, winning bidders have invested over £11 billion into transmission links connecting 27 offshore wind farms to the UK grid. Ofgem estimates that it will bring an average of £6 billion of OFTO assets to market each year between now and 2030.
The tenth OFTO tender round, in which the transmission cabling for Moray West was opened for bidders, was in January 2023. After the six-month invitation to tender, the preferred bidder has twelve months to meet the requirements of the regulator.
Transmission Capital Partners, the preferred bidder for Moray West, is a consortium comprising INPP Amber Infrastructure Group and Transmission Investment.
The firm has been awarded OFTO contracts for other major UK offshore wind projects including Beatrice offshore transmission assets connecting the 588MW Beatrice offshore wind farm to the Scottish Hydro Electric 400kV electricity transmission network and the connection to the 714MW East Anglia One offshore wind farm, located 50km off the coast of Suffolk.
It recently reached financial close on the long-term ownership and operation of the transmission link to the 400MW Rampion offshore wind farm, which is visible from Brighton’s seafront, after being appointed as the preferred bidder in 2019.
Should its bid for Moray West go ahead, Transmission Capital Partners will have nine such projects in its portfolio. Transmission Capital Partners currently owns eight OFTO projects with a total capital value in excess of £1.4 billion.
