Balfour Beatty buys third OFTO

Balfour Beatty will jointly own Gwynt y Môr OFTO with Equitix. Balfour Beatty will invest £28m of equity, which represents 60% of equity required.

The Gwynt y Môr OFTO, previously operated by Gwynt y Môr Offshore Wind Farm Ltd, is the high-voltage electricity transmission system connecting the 576MW wind farm off the coast of North Wales to the onshore transmission grid.

The £2bn wind farm is expected to be able to generate enough electricity for around 400,000 homes each year. It has 160 turbines and has been built by RWE Innogy UK. Half the turbines were commissioned in September 2014; full operation is imminent.

The assets acquired by Balfour Beatty and Equitix include three substations – two offshore and one onshore – and more than 80km of subsea cables.

Balfour Beatty’s Services division is responsible for the assets’ operations and maintenance under a licence granted by Ofgem with a 20-year revenue stream.  

This is the third OFTO acquisition that Balfour Beatty has closed and it now has responsibility for OFTO transmission assets worth £833m with a combined transmission capacity of 1380 MW. Financial close was achieved on the £317m Greater Gabbard OFTO in November 2013 and the £164m Thanet OFTO in December 2014.

Group chief executive Leo Quinn said: “The offshore transmission market has a future pipeline to 2020 of up to £10bn, which represents a sizable growth opportunity for our Investments business. Combining our investment and operational capabilities gives us a leading offering in this market and we have already used this to establish a strong early presence.”

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