Balfour Beatty announced on 29 July that it has been appointed preferred bidder for the transmission assets of the Gwynt y Môr offshore wind farm project, located off the north coast of Wales in the UK, as part of the Offshore Transmission Owners regulatory regime.

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.Gwynt y Môr has an indicative transfer value of £346 million.

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 Offshore Transmission Owners  will carry out its responsibilities through a 20-year licence awarded by Ofgem, the UK Government's regulator for gas and electricity markets.

Gwynt y Môr gives Balfour Beatty a leading investor position in this market, with responsibility for OFTO transmission assets worth £830 million with a combined transmission capacity of 1380 MW.

Balfour Beatty has also been selected by Ofgem to participate in the next round of bidding  which has an estimated transfer value of £310 million.

Source: Balfour Beatty