Ofgem has today appointed Blue Transmission London Array Limited as owners of the high voltage transmission link to the London Array (Phase 1) offshore wind farm. Four bidders competed to own and operate the £459 million transmission link, driving down the final cost for consumers.

The Blue Transmission consortium comprising Barclays Infrastructure Funds Management Limited and a UK subsidiary of Mitsubishi Corporation will now maintain and operate the links for the next 20 years. Ofgem announced them as preferred bidders for the project in September 2012. Half of the debt funding for the purchase was provided by the European Investment Bank (EIB).

The regime has led to the cost of running the transmission link being a quarter less than the seven previously completed licence grants.

The transmission system will link the London Array wind farm, located in the outer Thames Estuary approximately 20km off the south east coast of the UK, with the onshore grid at Kent.

Blue Transmission was advised by Macquarie Capital acting as financial adviser.

Lord Mogg, Ofgem Chairman, said:

"This is a significant milestone. With a value of £459 million, these are the highest value assets to have been tendered under the offshore regime to date, bringing the total value of new investment attracted into the sector to over £1 billion"

Jonathan Taylor, European Investment Bank Vice-President for the UK, said:

"Investment in transmission projects is essential to link sources of renewable energy to the national grid. Today's agreement brings total EIB support for the London Array scheme, the world's largest offshore wind farm project, to more than £900 million and demonstrates the strength of the continued partnership with Ofgem. Over the last 5 years the European Investment Bank has provided more than £6 billion for long-term investment in the UK energy sector and is committed to supporting crucial energy investment across Europe."

Mitsubishi Corporation (MC) has been increasing its participation in the electricity transmission sector across Europe. The firm started with the Walney-1 transmission asset in November 2011. Then other acquisitions followed: Walney-2 in October 2012 and Sheringham Shoal in July 2013, both in the UK. MC has also entered the electricity transmission business in Germany, having acquired BorWin-1/2 in December 2012 and DoloWin-2/HelWin-2 in April of this year.