Diamond Transmission Partners has been named by Ofgem as the preferred bidder to own and operate the £1.2 billion high voltage transmission link between Ørsted’s Hornsea 2 offshore wind farm and the onshore network.
Diamond Transmission Partners is a consortium comprising Mitsubishi Corporation and HICL Infrastructure plc. It will own and operate the 1320MW cable that brings power from Hornsea 2’s 165 turbines, which are 89km from the Yorkshire coast, for the next 24 years.
The initial estimated value of the transmission assets is £1.189bn. When the final value of the assets has been agreed by Ofgem, the preferred bidder will pay the final amount to Ørsted, once they have been granted the assets OFTO licence by Ofgem.
The reserve bidder for the Hornsea 2 project is Transmission Capital Partners.
Ofgem estimates that up to 13 OFTO assets, with a value of around £10 billion, will be tendered through the OFTO regime between 2023 and 2025, helping deliver the UK Government’s target of having 40GW of offshore wind generation operational by the end of this decade.
Ofgem anticipates that the next OFTO Tender Round, the tenth such event, will begin early in 2023, and will comprise multiple OFTO assets.