15.01.10 Six companies shortlisted for wind farms connections
Ofgem has released a shortlist of six companies who are bidding to operate the power lines for a total of nine offshore wind farms in the UK. The contract will be worth over £1 billion.
The power lines will connect up to 2GW of electricity to the grid, all of which will come from renewable power. This is enough to provide power to 2 million homes across the country.
It was Ofgem E-Serve that made the decision on the shortlist, which relates to the first phase of a £15 billion programme. By 2020, the links could transfer as much as 33GW in power, a huge increase that would go a long way to reaching the government’s green energy targets.
The companies that have been shortlisted for the connections include Dong Energy Sales and Distribution, National Grid Offshore, Capital Partners and Green Energy Transmission, along with new entrants to the market, Balfour Beatty Capital and Macquarie Capital Group.
One of the bigger transmission companies, Scottish & Southern, did not manage to make the list. This led a spokesman for the company to say that they were both “surprised and disappointed”, but that it “is clearly going to be very competitive”.
The chief executive of Ofgem, Alistair Buchanan, said “offshore wind will play a key role in delivering a better environment for consumers”, and that the strong competition “demonstrated the value of attracting new entrants”. He also said that “up to £200 billion” may have to be invested if the country is to “meet its climate change targets”.
The winners of the contract will be announced in May 2010.
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