Balfour is one of three preferred bidders confirmed by electricity regulator Ofgem to run the first £700m worth of transmission links for seven offshore wind farms.
Today’s other winners are Macquarie Capital Group Ltd and Transmission Capital Partners who will join Balfour in owning, operating and maintaining the power links under a 20-year licence conecting six other sites.
Balfour Beatty Chief Executive, Ian Tyler, said: “We are delighted to have been awarded preferred bidder status on this prestigious project.
“It is a significant step in our strategy to develop our non-PPP infrastructure investment business and is an excellent opportunity for Balfour Beatty to establish itself as a leading infrastructure investor and service provider within the offshore renewable industry.”
A competitive tender process was launched by Ofgem in July 2009 for offshore electricity transmission assets.
Balfour Beatty is also one of the bidders for the £101 million offshore transmission assets of the Ormonde offshore wind farm in the Irish Sea off Barrow-in-Furness.
The renewable energy market is a growth area for investors and high voltage cable links worth over £20 billion could be needed to connect a potential of around 50 GW of offshore wind power over the coming years.
The current awards involve taking over and operating power connections built by the offshore constructor.
Future rounds of bidding will involve the full design, build, finance and operate of the transmission systems.