Balfour Beatty, the international infrastructure group, announces today that it has reached financial close and completed the acquisition of the £164 million Thanet offshore transmission project (OFTO) in the UK. Balfour Beatty will invest over £20 million of equity.
The Thanet OFTO, previously operated by Vattenfall, is the high-voltage electricity transmission system connecting the 300MW Thanet Wind Farm, off the coast of Kent, to the onshore transmission grid, generating enough electricity for around 200,000 homes each year. The assets include one offshore and one onshore substation and over 50 kilometres 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.
To date, Balfour Beatty has achieved financial close on two OFTO projects. In November 2013, Balfour Beatty achieved financial close on the £317 million Greater Gabbard OFTO in Suffolk, which has since delivered 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 Q1 2015.
Steve Marshall, Executive Chairman, said: “For the Investments business, the offshore transmission market is an important part of its strategy to diversify into new markets and achieving financial close on our second project is a great success.
“This project, and this market, is also an example of how Balfour Beatty Services can derive revenues from the Investments business. Today’s announcement supports our wider strategy of developing our delivery capability in the offshore renewables industry.”
Analyst/investor enquiries:
Anoop Kang
Tel. +44 (0)20 7216 6913
Anoop.kang@balfourbeatty.com
Media enquiries:
Dominic Cheetham
Tel. +44 (0)20 7963 4235
Dominic.cheetham@balfourbeatty.com
Notes to editors:
Balfour Beatty is a leading international infrastructure group.
With 36,000 employees, we provide innovative and efficient infrastructure that underpins our daily lives, supports communities and enables economic growth.
We finance, develop, build and maintain complex infrastructure such as transportation, power and utility systems, social and commercial buildings.
Our main geographies are the UK, US, Middle East and South East Asia. Over the last 100 years we have created iconic buildings and infrastructure all over the world including the London Olympics’ Aquatic Centre, Hong Kong’s first Zero Carbon building, the world’s biggest shopping mall in Dubai, the National Museum of the Marine Corps in the US and the Channel Tunnel Rail Link.
