EIB considers wind-farm funding

News

The European Investment Bank and Ofgem E-Serve have announced that the EIB is considering the provision of £300m to investors in high-voltage transmission links to offshore wind farms.

The European Investment Bank and Ofgem E-Serve have announced that the EIB is considering the provision of £300m to investors in high-voltage transmission links to offshore wind farms in

Britain

.

The funding will be available for six projects, including Sheringham Shoal (315MW), Ormonde (150MW) and the Greater Gabbard (504MW) development.

Taken together, the six transmission projects, scheduled for completion in 2011, will connect around 1.6GW of offshore generation.

Simon Brooks, vice president of the European Investment Bank, said: ‘The European Investment Bank welcomes Ofgem’s initiative in promoting this essential element of the UK’s renewable-energy infrastructure. Electricity from offshore wind farms will make a key contribution to national power supply and help achieve 2020 emissions targets.”

The Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and Ofgem E-Serve have put in place competitive arrangements to ensure generators benefit from cost-effective connections to the mainland electricity network. Those firms competing to run connections to these six projects can now apply to the EIB for funding.

Lord Mogg, Ofgem’s chairman, said: ‘The EIB’s decision to consider these projects for funding of over £300m is an important step forward for delivering competitively priced connections for offshore wind farms.

‘By adopting a competitive process for connections, Ofgem E-Serve is endeavouring to keep the cost of connection to generators as low as possible. This brings benefits to consumers, who will ultimately fund the £15bn required to connect the 33GW of offshore generation needed to help meet Britain’s emission targets.’