Offshore Transmission Owners (OFTOs) operate and maintain offshore electric power transmission infrastructure in Great Britain, delivering electrical power from offshore wind farms to the National Grid. OFTOs may design and build this transmission infrastructure, but in most cases wind farm developers construct the electrical transmission assets and then sell them to an OFTO once complete.Essential EU Climate Law, edited by Edwin Woerdman, Martha Roggenkamp, Marijn Holwerda, Economics of Offshore Wind Power: Challenges and Policy Considerations By Rahmatallah Poudineh, Craig Brown, Benjamin Foley,
Operation In the British electricity market, different functions of the electricity system are separated, with this practice beginning in the 1980s. The activities of generators, transmission operators, system operators, distribution operators and suppliers are separately licensed by Ofgem, with a single business unable to perform multiple functions due to UK Competition Law.
The groundwork for the offshore transmission regime was laid by the Energy Act 2004, with the first offshore transmission license being awarded in 2011. , all the offshore transmission infrastructure in Great Britain has been built by wind farm developers, who are then required to sell their transmission assets to a separately licensed Offshore Transmission Owner. The divestment must take place before the Generator Commissioning Clause date, on which the exemption from this requirement lapses.
Divestment is managed via a regulated tender process administered by the energy regulator Ofgem. Qualifying bidders are required to conduct due diligence before submitting a bid to purchase the assets for transfer value determined by Ofgem and receive their bid Tender Revenue Stream (TRS) for a fixed license period. Ofgem then appoints a Preferred Bidder who negotiates the purchase terms with the Developer, after which Ofgem awards a transmission license and the transfer takes place.
Offshore transmission operators Windfarm Developer Capacity (MW) Final Transfer Value (£m) OFTOLicense Award Date Tender Round 1 Robin Rigg E.ON 180 65.5 Transmission Capital Partners2 March 2011 Gunfleet Sands Ørsted 173 49.5 Transmission Capital Partners19 July 2011 Barrow Ørsted and Centrica 90 33.6 Transmission Capital Partners27 September 2011 Walney 1 Ørsted, SSE and OPW 184 105.4 Blue Transmission21 October 2011 Ormonde Vattenfall 150 103.9 Transmission Capital Partners10 July 2012 Walney 2 Ørsted, SSE and OPW 184 109.8 Blue Transmission26 September 2012 Sheringham Shoal Scira 315 193.1 Blue Transmission27 June 2013 Greater Gabbard SSE and RWE 504 317.1 Equitix Group26 November 2013 Thanet Vattenfall 300 164.8 Balfour Beatty17 December 2014 Tender Round 2 London Array Ørsted, E.on and Masdar 630 444 Blue Transmission10 September 2013 Lincs Ørsted, Centrica, and Siemens 270 307.7 Transmission Capital Partners4 November 2014 Gwynt y Môr RWE, Stadewerke München and Siemens 574 351.9 Balfour Beatty11 February 2015 West of Duddon Sands Ørsted and Scottish Power Renewables 388 268.9 West of Duddon Sands Transmission Plc19 August 2015. Tender Round 3 Westermost Rough Ørsted, Marubeni and GIB 205 172.3 Transmission Capital Partners3 February 2016 Humber Gateway E.ON 219 173.3 Balfour BeattySeptember 2016 Tender Round 4 Burbo Bank Ørsted 258 193.9 Diamond Transmission Partners25 April 2018 Tender Round 5 Dudgeon Equinor 402 297.9 Transmission Capital Partners5 November 2018 Race Bank Ørsted 573 472.5 Diamond Transmission Partners9 October 2019 Galloper RWE 340 281.8 Diamond Transmission Partners24 February 2020 Walney Extension Ørsted 600 446.6 Diamond Transmission Partners1 June 2020 Rampion E.ON 400 279.5 Transmission Capital Partners & International Public Partnerships Limited 12 November 2021 Tender Round 6 Hornsea One Ørsted 1218 1170 Diamond Transmission Partners1 March 2021 Beatrice SSE, Red Rock Power Ltd, The Renewables Infrastructure Group and Equitix 588 437.9 Transmission Capital Partners27 July 2021 East Anglia One ScottishPower Renewables and Vattenfall 714 692.6 Transmission Capital Partners 15 December 2022 Tender Round 7 (in progress) Moray East Diamond Green Limited, Moray Offshore Renewable Power Limited, Delphis Holdings Limited, China Three Gorges Limited 900 666.1Transmission Capital Partners15 February 2024 Triton Knoll RWE Renewables, J-Power, Kansai 857 572.7 ETEPCO Tender Round 8 (in progress) Hornsea Two Ørsted 1,368 1141.2Diamond Transmission Partners Tender Round 9 (in progress) Seagreen Phase 1 Seagreen Wind Energy Limited 1,140 ETEPCO (preferred bidder) Tender Round 10 (in progress) Moray West Moray Offshore Windfarm (West) Limited 882 Neart Na Gaoithe Neart na Gaoithe Offshore Wind Limited 448 Dogger Bank A DBA Projco 1,200 ETEPCO (preferred bidder)Tender Round 11 (in progress)Dogger Bank BDBB Projco1,200
References
External links Offshore Transmission (OFTO) regime, now fully in place, set to achieve further savings https://www.4coffshore.com/news/race-bank-ofto-merger-approval-nid11189.html https://www.spglobal.com/platts/en/market-insights/latest-news/electric-power/041219-five-bidders-shortlisted-for-uk-offshore-transmission-assets https://www.offshorewind.biz/2019/04/12/five-remain-in-gbp-2-7-billion-ofto-race-in-uk/