Ofgem is consulting on how to tender out new onshore electricity transmission infrastructure projects worth £100m or more.
The consultation concerns the detail of how onshore tendering would work, including how eligible projects would be identified and the revenue that winning bidders would receive from operating the links.
The first tender could take place in 2017.
Since 2009, offshore wind farm links have been competitively tendered and Ofgem now wants to apply the same formula to new, high-value onshore electricity transmission infrastructure.
It will mean that the three monopoly transmission companies in Britain – National Grid Electricity Transmission, Scottish Hydro Electricity Transmission and Scottish Power Transmission – will have to compete against other firms for the right to build and own new, high-value transmission assets.
Ofgem chief executive officer Dermot Nolan said: “Part of our role is to ensure that customers pay no more for energy infrastructure than they have to.
“We took a ground-breaking approach by opening up ownership of offshore links to competition and now we are going further.
“In future we will tender out high-value electricity infrastructure projects onshore. This ensures that customers get even better value for money from Britain’s grids.”
Image: Ofgem
