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Ofgem's OFTO tender, its largest to date, invites investors to take on the 2.9GW Hornsea 3 transmission assets for up to 25 years of inflation-linked revenue; Ofgem has published no bid deadline.
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Foundation monopiles for Hornsea 3 on delivery, from Ørsted's newsroom. The photo shows the wind farm's foundations, not the transmission assets now under tender.
Image: Ørsted
Source · Press image from the Ørsted newsroom, used for news reporting.
Ofgem, Britain's energy regulator, opened an offshore transmission owner (OFTO) tender, Round 14, on Oct. 21, inviting investors to bid for the transmission assets that will connect the 2.9GW Hornsea 3 wind farm to the grid; the round is valued at about £3.5 billion ($4.6 billion).
Round 14 opened on Oct. 21, 2026, with Hornsea 3 completion projected by the end of 2027, according to Ofgem.
Illustration (AI-generated)
Ofgem described the round in a press release as its largest OFTO tender to date. Energy Monitor, which put the value at $4.6 billion, reported that the assets sit more than 100 km off the Norfolk coast. Hornsea 3 is due for completion by the end of 2027 and is projected to supply 3.3 million UK homes, Ofgem said.
Under the OFTO regime, winning bidders finance, operate and maintain transmission assets that have already been built, including cables and offshore and onshore substations. In return they receive an inflation-linked revenue stream for up to 25 years, subject to asset availability and performance, according to Ofgem. The transmission assets are sold in parallel from the developer to the successful bidder.
Beatrice Filkin, Ofgem's director of major projects, said the competitive process helps attract investment while making sure consumers get value for money. Ofgem said since the regime began in 2009, winning bidders have invested more than £10 billion in links connecting 28 offshore wind farms.
The round puts a multi-billion-pound piece of grid infrastructure into private ownership at the moment the project is still under construction. Ofgem listed data centres alongside transport, heating and industry as sources of growing electricity demand that the wider modernisation of Great Britain's energy system is meant to serve. The release does not tie Hornsea 3 itself to any data-centre load. Voltgrid News reported earlier on Microsoft dropping a UK Nscale site as the grid slips.
Energy Monitor reported that the wind farm project is valued at £8.5 billion and needs onshore infrastructure, including 51 km of underground cables to a National Grid substation near Norwich. Ofgem's £3.5 billion figure is an estimate for the tender round, and the two sources do not say the figures cover the same scope. Voltgrid News also covered National Grid's Weston Marsh substation approval.
Ofgem has not published a bid deadline, a shortlist or the identity of any interested investor in the release, and the final price will be set through the tender, not by the £3.5 billion estimate. Ofgem also said it expects further North Sea offshore transmission assets to come to market through the OFTO framework, without naming projects or dates.
