Ofgem is inviting tenders to own and operate the prebuilt electricity transmission link connecting the 1400MW Sofia offshore wind farm to Great Britain’s mainland energy network.
The UK energy regulator has opened the OFTO (Offshore Transmission Owner) regime Tender Round 12 which invites bids from investors to own and operate infrastructure connecting RWE’s project to the onshore electricity grid in North Yorkshire.
Located 195km off Britain’s Northeast coastline in the North Sea, the wind farm can power almost 1.2m homes.
It connects to the onshore electricity transmission network via electricity transmission assets including cables and both offshore and onshore converter stations and substations, which help harness the homegrown energy and transport it to millions of British homes.
The Ofgem-run tendering process is designed to keep costs down for consumers while also providing attractive investment opportunities.
Since its launch in 2009, OFTO has seen winning bidders invest over £11billion in links connecting 27 offshore wind farms.
As the race to achieve clean power intensifies, Ofgem anticipates bringing on average £6bn of OFTO assets to market each year in the run up to 2030.
Beatrice Filkin, Ofgem director of major projects said: ”Connecting offshore wind farms such as Sofia helps harness the power of the North Sea to keep the lights on and deliver homegrown energy to British consumers.
“OFTO is part of Ofgem’s work to attract investors into the UK to boost growth and build a stable and secure energy system to deliver clean power to people’s homes.
“As well as successfully attracting the investment needed to upgrade our energy system, OFTO also ensures that we as regulator deliver a good deal for consumers and keep bills as low as possible.”
Later this year Ofgem plans to launch Tender Round 13, anticipated to be its biggest tender round to date comprising transmission assets for Dogger Bank C, Inch Cape and East Anglia 3 .