Ofgem to launch tender process to own and operate connection links for Scotland’s largest offshore wind farm Seagreen Phase 1

Press release
Publication date
Industry sector
Offshore Transmission Network

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.

Britain has the world’s largest offshore wind capacity and is home to the world’s largest offshore windfarm Hornsea 2.  Windfarms such as Seagreen Phase 1, will help achieve UK government targets to quadruple Britain’s offshore wind capacity by 2030 and realise net zero ambitions by 2050.

The energy regulator runs tenders to own and operate connections to offshore wind farms to cut costs for consumers. This will be the ninth tender round it has conducted under its offshore transmission owner (OFTO) regime, which has so far secured owners and operators for 23  offshore wind farm connections.

Akshay Kaul, Director of Networks at Ofgem, said: “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 20 January 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 online.

Notes to editors

The 1,075MW Seagreen Phase 1 Offshore Wind Farm project is located 27km off the coast of Angus in the North Sea. A joint venture between TotalEnergies (51%) and SSE Renewables (49%), Seagreen Phase 1 will be Scotland’s largest and deepest offshore wind farm when complete.

The OFTO assets to be tendered include offshore and onshore substations and cables connecting the wind farm to the mainland near Carnoustie in Angus.

Since Ofgem and Government launched the OFTO regime in 2009 winning bidders have so far invested over £6billion in links connecting 9.5GW of offshore wind farms.