East Anglia THREE OFTO

Masdar and Iberdrola announced their co-investment in East Anglia THREE on 24 July 2025, with each party taking a 50 percent stake and co-governance of the 1.4 GW asset. The partnership was formed under the EUR 15 billion strategic alliance signed by Masdar and Iberdrola in December 2023 to accelerate clean energy deployment across the UK, Germany and the United States. ScottishPower Renewables, Iberdrola's UK subsidiary, leads construction of the project.

Masdar and Iberdrola reached financial close for the 1.4 GW East Anglia THREE offshore wind farm on 24 July 2025. Project financing facilities totalling GBP 3.6 billion (EUR 4.1 billion) were secured with 23 banks and the Danish Export Credit Agency (EIFO), covering a substantial part of the total project cost estimated at approximately EUR 5.2 billion. The facility was oversubscribed by more than 40 percent. The project benefits from 15-year CPI-linked Contracts for Difference awarded in UK allocation rounds AR4 and AR6, as well as a Power Purchase Agreement with Amazon signed in 2024. Over 2,300 jobs are expected during construction with 100 long-term roles across its operational lifetime.

Masdar acquired a 50 percent stake in East Anglia THREE from Iberdrola as part of a co-investment arrangement announced on 24 July 2025. The EUR 5.2 billion co-investment gives both parties equal 50 percent ownership and co-governance of the 1.4 GW offshore wind farm and its associated transmission assets. The transaction is a milestone in the EUR 15 billion strategic partnership between Masdar and Iberdrola signed in December 2023. ScottishPower Renewables, Iberdrola's UK subsidiary, continues to lead construction.

On 16 July 2025, the first section of the East Anglia Three export cable, part of the future East Anglia THREE OFTO transmission system, was pulled ashore, completing its landfall at Bawdsey on the Suffolk coast. The NKT-installed offshore export cable, which carries power from the 1.4 GW offshore wind farm over roughly 147 kilometres at sea before joining about 37 kilometres of onshore cable to a new converter station at Bramford, thus achieved its initial shore crossing milestone.

Cable installation for the 320 kV HVDC export system that will form the East Anglia THREE OFTO began in June 2025, when NKT started work on the 1.4 GW East Anglia Three project, supplying and installing the offshore export cables that run approximately 147 kilometres from the wind farm in the North Sea to landfall at Bawdsey in Suffolk, and then connecting to onshore cables towards the new converter station at Bramford. The works are being executed using NKT’s cable-laying vessel NKT Victoria under a turnkey contract covering the complete offshore and onshore cable system for ScottishPower Renewables’ East Anglia Three transmission assets.

In 2023, ScottishPower Renewables placed a firm order with NKT to design, manufacture, and install the complete 320 kV HVDC export power cable system for East Anglia Three, confirming and firming up the earlier turnkey contract for the project’s onshore and offshore export transmission cables that will become part of the East Anglia THREE OFTO assets.

ScottishPower Renewables awarded NKT a turnkey contract in 2022 to supply and install the complete 320 kV HVDC export cable system for the 1.4 GW East Anglia Three project, covering both offshore and onshore sections that will form the East Anglia THREE OFTO transmission assets. The scope includes design, manufacture, and installation of the high‑voltage export cables using NKT’s cable‑laying vessel NKT Victoria over a total route length of approximately 2 × 147 km offshore and 2 × 37 km onshore.

ScottishPower Renewables commenced onshore construction works for the East Anglia THREE project in July 2022, following receipt of development consent in August 2017. The onshore campaign covers enabling works and main construction along the cable route from landfall at Bawdsey through to the new onshore HVDC converter station at Bramford in Suffolk, approximately 37 km inland. Works include duct installation along the onshore cable route, construction of the converter hall and associated buildings at the Bramford converter station site, and electrical installation and commissioning activities. The developer's project activity page reports that by early 2026, the onshore converter hall and associated buildings are complete and electrical installation and commissioning activities are underway at Bramford. The onshore construction programme forms part of the broader developer-build phase of the East Anglia THREE OFTO transmission assets, which will ultimately be transferred to an independent Offshore Transmission Owner through Ofgem's Tender Round 13 competitive process.

Aker Solutions / Siemens Energy consortium awarded EPCI contract by ScottishPower Renewables for the East Anglia THREE HVDC converter stations (one offshore, one onshore).

The UK Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy granted development consent for the East Anglia THREE offshore wind farm on 7 August 2017, following examination by the Planning Inspectorate under the Planning Act 2008 (application reference EN010056). The Development Consent Order (DCO) authorises construction and operation of the generating station and its associated development, including the offshore and onshore transmission infrastructure that will form the East Anglia THREE OFTO assets. The DCO covers the offshore wind turbine array, up to one offshore electrical platform, export cables from the wind farm area to landfall at Bawdsey in Suffolk, onshore cables routed to Bramford, and a new onshore converter station adjacent to National Grid's existing Bramford 400 kV substation. Subsequent non-material change applications have amended certain parameters including generating capacity and offshore infrastructure specifications. The consent was granted to East Anglia Three Limited, a subsidiary of ScottishPower Renewables (Iberdrola group), and provides the legal basis for all construction and operational activities across both the generation and transmission components of the project.