Humber Gateway Offshore Transmission Project Reaches Financial Close

International infrastructure group Balfour Beatty announced Thursday that it had reached financial close for the £162.9 million Humber Gateway offshore transmission project which will connect North Sea offshore wind with the east Yorkshire coast in England.

Balfour Beatty revealed on Thursday that its consortium with investment firm Equitix reached financial close for the £162.9 million Humber Gateway offshore transmission project — of which Balfour Beatty will invest £12.5 million of the total required equity of £21 million. Separately, the European Investment Bank announced that it would be providing £82 million to the project, which will link the Humber Gateway offshore wind farm with the UK electricity grid.

The Humber Gateway offshore wind farm is 220 MW capacity project, generating from 73 wind turbines, eight kilometers east of Spurn Point off the coast of the East Riding of Yorkshire, in the North Sea, England. The resulting Humber Gateway offshore transmission project comprises a high-voltage electricity transmission link connecting the wind farm, owned by E.ON, to the onshore transmission grid, and will be owned and operated by the Balfour Beatty Equitix Consortium for a period of 20 years.

“This is our fourth OFTO contract to reach financial close and further establishes our position in the offshore transmission market,” said Ian Rylatt, Balfour Beatty Investments Chief Executive. “Our technical expertise ensures we can efficiently and effectively support the government’s targets to meet more of the UK’s energy needs through renewable sources.”

“Equitix’s commitment to the offshore transmission market is testament to our investors’ appetite for long term, availability-based, inflation-linked, UK infrastructure,” added Hugh Crossley, Equitix’s Chief Investment Officer. “We are pleased to be working in partnership with Balfour Beatty and Ofgem for the benefit of our investors and stakeholders.”

The involvement of the European Investment Bank (EIB) continues the group’s phenomenal achievements investing into European renewable energy projects over the last decade. The world’s largest international public bank, the EIB has invested more than £3.2 billion into the UK energy infrastructure.

“Investment to harness the UK’s offshore wind resources provides clean energy and is creating thousands of skilled jobs across the country,” said Jonathan Taylor, European Investment Bank Vice-President. “Offshore transmission connections are a key part of the UK’s future energy infrastructure and the European Investment Bank is pleased to support significant new investment to connect the Humber Gateway windfarm to the national network. This new scheme represents the tenth UK offshore transmission link supported by Europe’s long-term lending institution over the last five years.”