Major Grid Projects Nearing in U.K.

The United Kingdom’s energy regulation agency, Ofgem, has whittled down the potential winners of more than £1 billion ($1.6 billion) of offshore transmission grid contracts to six contenders.

According to Industrial Information Resources (IIR), Sugar Land, Texas, a list of 13 firms identified in October has been reduced to the final six bidders, who are:
• Balfour Beatty Capital Limited, based in Newtown Square, Pa., United States;
• DONG Energy Sales and Distribution of Denmark;
• Green Energy Transmission (a consortium of Equitix Limited and AMP Capital Investors Limited);
• Macqaurie Capital Group Limited, part of Australia’s Macquarie Group Limited;
• National Grid Offshore Limited, a subsidiary of London-based National Grid plc; and
• Transmission Capital Partners (a consortium of Transmission Capital, International Public Partnerships and Amber Infrastructure Group).

The transmission lines will connect large-scale offshore wind farms with the United Kingdom’s electrical grid. The projects are likely to consume considerable amounts of metal as well as generating high-value scrap.

The winning bidders will be announced in May.