Ofgem is inviting tenders to own and operate prebuilt electricity links connecting Scotland’s largest offshore wind farm to Great Britain’s mainland energy network.
The connection links for the 1075MW Seagreen Phase 1 to be tendered include offshore and onshore substations and cables connecting the wind farm to the mainland near Carnoustie in Angus.
This will be the ninth tender round it has conducted under its offshore transmission owner (OFTO) regime, which has so far secured owners and operators for 23 offshore wind farm connections.
An OFTO launch webinar will be held on Thursday 20 January from 09.30 to 11:00 and will include contributions from Ofgem and from Seagreen.
The energy regulator runs tenders to own and operate connections to offshore wind farms to cut costs for consumers.
Britain has the world’s largest offshore wind capacity and is home to the world’s largest offshore windfarm Hornsea 2.
Ofgem networks director Akshay Kaul said: “Connecting offshore wind farms such as Seagreen helps harness the power of North Sea wind to keep the lights on and deliver sustainable and affordable energy.
“As the government seeks to realise its net zero ambitions a key part of Ofgem’s job is to ensure the costs of transitioning to green energy are kept as low as possible for consumers.
“Our OFTO tender regime does exactly that delivering on both sustainability and affordability for Britain’s consumers.”
The 1075MW Seagreen Phase 1 Offshore Wind Farm project is located 27 km off the coast of Angus in the North Sea.
A joint venture between TotalEnergies (51%) and SSE Renewables (49%), Seagreen Phase 1 will be Scotland’s largest and deepest offshore wind farm when complete.