Ofgem will initiate the fifth tender round (TR5) for offshore transmission owners (OFTO) on 10 October, which will allow companies to bid and become owners of five transmission links to offshore windfarms.
The five links have an estimated value of £2bn in total and a generation capacity of 2.3GW.
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Ofgem's senior partner for networks Jonathan Brearley said: “Since the launch of the OFTO regime, the first three tendering rounds have delivered £700m in savings and have attracted over £3bn in investment value.
“By providing the opportunity for investors to participate in the tendering of over £2 billion of assets in the next round, it should ensure the delivery of further value for consumers and contribute to reducing the overall cost of offshore wind.”
Ofgem is responsible for running the tender process. It will pick competitive bids from companies to own and run links to the offshore sites over a 20-year period.
Ofgem called for a fifth round after it shortlisted five bidders to own and run the £230m transmission link for the Burbo Bank Extension offshore windfarm in the Bay of Liverpool earlier this month.
