Ofgem Opens a £3.5 Billion OFTO Tender for Hornsea 3, Equal to About a Third of the Regime's Investment to Date

Ofgem launched tender round 14 of the offshore transmission owner regime on 21 October. It covers one asset, the transmission link for the Hornsea 3 wind farm, valued at about £3.5 billion. Ofgem calls it the largest OFTO tender so far. The site is more than 100 km offshore, and the wind farm is expected to be completed by the end of 2027 and to supply the equivalent of 3.3 million homes.

The winning bidder will own and operate the link in return for an inflation-linked revenue stream of up to 25 years. Ofgem says the regime has attracted more than £10 billion of investment across 28 wind farms since 2009, an average of about £357 million a link. By TEI's calculation, the Hornsea 3 link is about 9.8 times that average and equals about 35% of all OFTO investment to date, or roughly £1,060 for each home Ofgem says the wind farm will power.