Balfour Beatty consortium preferred bidder for offshore wind farm

Balfour Beatty has been appointed preferred bidder for the transmission assets of the Gwynt y Môr offshore wind farm project.

The wind power project – which is located off the north coast of Wales – is part of the Offshore Transmission Owners regulatory regime. Gwynt y Môr has an indicative transfer value of £346m.

Balfour Beatty will invest 60% of the equity stake required for the project upon financial close, which is expected during the first half of 2014.

Once financial close has been achieved, Balfour Beatty, in a consortium with Equitix, will jointly own the 576 MW offshore high-voltage transmission asset and will be responsible for the asset’s operation and maintenance as well as connecting the wind farm to the onshore electricity transmission system.

The OFTO will carry out its responsibilities through a 20-year licence awarded by Ofgem, the UK Government’s regulator for gas and electricity markets.