Balfour Beatty buys offshore transmission project
Civil engineering group Balfour Beatty has reached financial close and completed the acquisition of the £164m Thanet offshore transmission project (OFTO) in the UK, in which it will invest more than £20m of equity.
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The project, previously run by Vattenfall, is the high-voltage electricity transmission system connecting the 300 megawatt Thanet wind farm, off the coast of Kent, to the onshore transmission grid.
It generates enough power for around 200,000 homes each year. The assets include one offshore and one onshore substation and more than 50 kilometres (31 miles) of subsea cables.
Balfour Beatty's services division is responsible for the assets' operations and maintenance under a licence granted by Ofgem with a 20 year revenue stream.
Balfour Beatty has achieved financial close on two OFTO projects. In November 2013, it reached financial close on the £317m Greater Gabbard OFTO in Suffolk, which has since achieved average availability close to 100%. The company also remains preferred bidder on the Gwynt y Môr OFTO in North Wales, which is expected to close in the first quarter of 2015.
Chairman Steve Marshall said the offshore transmission market was an important part of the strategy of the company's investment business to diversify into new markets.
"This project, and this market, is also an example of how Balfour Beatty Services can derive revenues from the investments business," he said.