Balfour inks deal to buy £164m offshore transmission asset

Balfour Beatty has reached financial close on the acquisition of the £164m Thanet offshore transmission project, which links the Thanet Wind Farm off the coast of Kent to the national grid.

The Thanet offshore transmission project (OFTO) was previously operated by Vattenfall.

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.

Thanet Wind Farm generates enough electricity for around 200,000 homes each year.

The Thanet deal is Balfour’s second acquisition of an OFTO asset, after the acquisition of the £317m Greater Gabbard OFTO in Suffolk in November 2013.

Steve Marshall, executive chairman of Balfour Beatty, 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.”