EIB provides £51 million for Gwynt y Mor OFTO

UK: The European Investment Bank has provided £51 million to Balfour Beatty-led consortium to support the acquisition of the Gwynt y Mor transmission license.

by David Weston 16 February 2015

Construction at Gwynt y Mor was completed in November

Last week, Ofgem awarded the offshore transmission owner (OFTO) license to the consortium. It will be responsible for the operation and maintenance of the link.

The transmission link between RWE's 576MW project and the grid is valued at £352 million. EIB's loan will help the license owners to complete the acquisition of the link.

The funding will issued through EIB's project bond credit enhancement facility, which aims to increase other private investment.

Assets include two offshore substations, 120 kilometres of cabling and an onshore substation in north Wales.

EIB has provided financial support to several OFTO licenses, including London Array, and .

It also said it would provide  for the Humber Gateway and Westermost Rough links.