Balfour Beatty, the international infrastructure group, announces today that it has been appointed preferred bidder for the transmission assets of the Gwynt y Môr offshore wind farm project, located off the north coast of Wales in the UK, as part of the Offshore Transmission Owners ("OFTO") regulatory regime.
Gwynt y Môr has an indicative transfer value of £346 million. Balfour Beatty will invest 60% of the equity stake required for the project upon financial close, which is expected during the first half of 2014.
Once financial close has been achieved, Balfour Beatty, in a consortium with Equitix, will jointly own the 576 MW offshore high-voltage transmission asset and will be responsible for the asset’s operation and maintenance as well as connecting the wind farm to the onshore electricity transmission system. The OFTO will carry out its responsibilities through a 20-year licence awarded by Ofgem, the UK Government’s regulator for gas and electricity markets.
Combined with the Thanet and Greater Gabbard offshore transmission assets which are expected to reach close later this year, Gwynt y Môr gives Balfour Beatty a leading investor position in this new and growing market, with responsibility for OFTO transmission assets worth £830 million with a combined transmission capacity of 1380 MW.
Balfour Beatty has also recently been selected by Ofgem to participate in the next round of bidding which will commence later this year for the West of Duddon Sands project which has an estimated transfer value of £310 million.
Balfour Beatty CEO, Andrew McNaughton, said: "Gwynt y Môr is a significant step in the development of our investment business in non-PPP infrastructure markets, as well as our wider strategy of developing our delivery capability in the offshore renewables industry. It firmly places Balfour Beatty in a leading position within the fast growing and potentially very large offshore transmission markets."
Today's announcement follows the competitive tender process initiated by Ofgem for the Gwynt y Môr offshore electricity transmission assets. Balfour Beatty's success reflects its expertise in infrastructure investment and its long-standing experience in the maintenance of offshore transmission assets.
Analyst/investor enquiries:
Basak Kotler
Balfour Beatty plc
Tel. +44 (0)20 7216 6924
basak.kotler@balfourbeatty.com
Media enquiries:
Maitland
Tel. +44 (0)20 7379 5151
BalfourBeatty-maitland@maitland.co.uk
Notes to editors:
Balfour Beatty (www.balfourbeatty.com) is an international infrastructure group that delivers world class services essential to the development, creation and care of infrastructure assets; from finance and development, through design and project management to construction and maintenance.
Our businesses draw on more than 100 years of experience to deliver the highest levels of quality, safety and technical expertise to our clients principally in the UK, the US, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. We continue to develop our business in key growth markets in South Africa, Australia, Canada, Brazil and India.
With proven expertise in delivering infrastructure critical to support communities and society today and in the future, our key market sectors include transportation (roads, rail and aviation), power and energy, mining, water and social infrastructure such as hospitals and schools.
Balfour Beatty employs 50,000 people around the world.
