ENERGY regulator Ofgem is set to launch the tender process to own and operate connection links for Scotland’s largest offshore wind farm: Seagreen Phase 1.
The project is located 27km off the coast of Angus in the North Sea and is a joint venture between TotalEnergies (51%) and SSE Renewables (49%).
Once complete, Seagreen Phase 1 will be Scotland’s largest and deepest offshore wind farm.
Ofgem is inviting tenders to own and operate prebuilt electricity links, including cables and substations, which connect Scotland’s largest offshore wind farm to Great Britain’s mainland energy network.
Since Ofgem and the Government launched the offshore transmission owner (OFTO) regime in 2009, winning bidders have so far invested over £6 billion in links connecting 9.5GW of offshore wind farms.
Britain has the world’s largest offshore wind capacity and is currently home to the world’s largest offshore windfarm, Hornsea 2. Windfarms such as Seagreen Phase 1 will help the UK government to meet their green energy targets; they hope to quadruple Britain’s offshore wind capacity by 2030 and realise their net zero ambitions by the year 2050.
The energy regulator runs tenders to own and operate connections to offshore wind farms so that they are able to cut energy costs for consumers. This will be the ninth tender round it has conducted under its OFTO regime - which has so far secured owners and operators for 23 offshore wind farm connections.
Akshay Kaul, director of networks at Ofgem, commented: “Connecting offshore wind farms such as Seagreen helps harness the power of North Sea wind to keep the lights on and deliver sustainable and affordable energy.
“As the government seeks to realise its net zero ambitions, a key part of Ofgem’s job is to ensure the costs of transitioning to green energy are kept as low as possible for consumers.
“Our OFTO tender regime does exactly that delivering on both sustainability and affordability for Britain’s consumers.”
An OFTO launch webinar will be held on Thursday, January 20 from 9.30am to 11am, and will include contributions from Ofgem and from Seagreen. The webinar is open to all and stakeholders are invited to register for the event. To sign up, visit Ofgem’s website: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/
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