EIB backs Lincs transmission

UK: The European Investment Bank will loan £168 million (EUR 214 million) to the new owners of the 270MW Lincs transmission network to help fund the acquisition.

The EIB will provide £168 million to the Lincs transmission

This week, energy regulator Ofgem awarded the Offshore Transmission Owner (OFTO) license to Transmission Capital Partners (TCP) – a consortium of infrastructure investment firms.

EIB will loan the money to TCP to acquire the network from the project's owners, as part of the Ofgem's OFTO licensing. The loan will be approximately 19 years.

On top of supporting this transmission system, in September the EIB said it would also help finance the OFTO winners for the Humber Gateway and Westermost Rough offshore projects.

TCP will own, operate and maintain the 100-kilometre high-voltage transmission network connecting the 270MW Lincs offshore project with the UK's onshore network.

The Lincs project was developed by Centrica, Dong Energy and Siemens. It came online last year, and features 75 Siemens 3.6MW turbines.