Consortium acts as financial adviser to Ofgem on the £1.14bn transfer of offshore wind farm transmission assets

The Square Smith Partners’ consortium acted as financial adviser to Ofgem on the £1.14bn completed transfer of Hornsea Two offshore wind farm transmission link from Ørsted to Diamond Transmission Partners

On 14 July, 2023 Ofgem announced its confirmation to grant an Offshore transmission licence to Diamond Transmission Partners Hornsea Two Limited. This sees the transfer of the £1.14bn offshore transmission link from Ørsted A/S, the developer of the Hornsea Two offshore wind farm, to a Diamond Transmission Partners entity owned by Mitsubishi Corporation and the London listed Infrastructure fund, HICL Infrastructure PLC.

The Hornsea Two wind farm consists of 165 turbines, has a capacity of 1,320MW and is located 89km from the Yorkshire coast. The associated transmission assets were acquired for £1.14bn, representing the largest asset by value sold under Ofgem’s Offshore Transmission Owner (OFTO) regime.

In addition, Ofgem announced yesterday that, four bidders have prequalified for Tender Round 10 (TR10) which has 3 OFTO assets with a combined asset value of over £2billion. The Invitation to Tender (ITT) for the first of the assets in this round, the Dogger Bank A transmission link with an estimated value of c. £1bn, is expected to be launched in early August.

The Square Smith Partners’ Consortium has been advising Ofgem in relation to sales of offshore wind farm transmission assets since 2020 when it was first appointed by Ofgem for TR7 and is currently advising on Tender Rounds TR7, TR8, TR9 and TR10 which together relate to the transmission assets for seven offshore wind farms with a projected generation capacity of 6.7 GW and combined asset values of c. £5.2bn.

The Consortium comprises financial advisers Centrus and Square Smith Partners, with CEPA providing financial and related economic advice, tax advice provided by BDO and forensic cost reviews provided by Grant Thornton.

“Offshore Windfarms are playing a critical role in the UK’s transition to renewable energy and Net Zero targets. It is a fantastic for Centrus and our consortium colleagues to play their part in closing out this important deal and its contribution to energy transition”.

Adam MacDonald, Managing Director – Centrus

For more information, please contact Adam MacDonald.

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