Balfour Beatty, the international infrastructure group, announces today that it has reached financial close and completed the acquisition of the £352 million Gwynt y Môr offshore transmission project (OFTO) in the UK. Balfour Beatty will jointly own Gwynt y Môr OFTO with Equitix. Balfour Beatty will invest £28 million of equity, which represents 60% of equity required.
The Gwynt y Môr OFTO, previously operated by Gwynt y Môr Offshore Wind Farm Limited, is the high-voltage electricity transmission system connecting the 576MW offshore wind farm, in North Wales, to the onshore transmission grid. The wind farm will be capable of generating enough electricity for around 400,000 homes each year. The assets include three substations – two offshore and one onshore - and over 80 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 three OFTO projects and now has responsibility for OFTO transmission assets worth £833 million with a combined transmission capacity of 1380 MW. Financial close was achieved on the £317 million Greater Gabbard OFTO in November 2013 and the £164 million Thanet OFTO in December 2014.
Leo Quinn, Balfour Beatty Group Chief Executive, said: “The offshore transmission market has a future pipeline to 2020 of up to £10bn, which represents a sizable growth opportunity for our Investments business. Combining our investment and operational capabilities gives us a leading offering in this market and we have already used this to establish a strong early presence.”
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.
