UK energy market regulator Ofgem has invited companies to submit bids to own and run links to the 336MW Galloper and the 660MW Walney Extension offshore wind farms.
The two links represent the second stage of the fifth tender round (TR5) for offshore transmission owners (OFTOs). TR5 is the largest tender round to date, with over 2.3 GW of generation and an estimated value of GBP 2 billion.
Ofgem, which runs the tender process, will choose the most competitive bids from companies to own and run links to the offshore sites over a 20-year period.
The launch of the second stage of TR5 comes after Ofgem announced shortlists of bidders for the first phase of TR5 earlier this month.
Companies have eight weeks to enter submissions for the Galloper and Walney Extension links. Ofgem will publish bidder shortlists for each project in the summer.
Galloper is a project equally owned by innogy SE, Siemens Financial Services, UK Green Investment Bank and Macquarie Capital. The wind farm is situated 27km off the east coast of England, adjacent to the Greater Gabbard project. The first turbines are expected to be installed at the site in summer 2017.
Located approximately 19km from shore in the Irish Sea, DONG Energy’s Walney Extension contains two phases. For the purposes of TR5, both phases are treated as a single qualifying project and one licence will be awarded to an OFTO to operate the Walney Extension, Ofgem said. The wind farm is expected to be commissioned in 2019.