Triton Knoll OFTO
OperationalOffshore GridGB857 MW220 kV75 km2021
Basic information
9 fieldsAlso Known As
Triton Knoll OFTO Limited · Triton Knoll OFTO · Triton Knoll offshore electricity transmission project · Triton Knoll OFTO TR7
Status
operational
Capacity
857 MW
Project Company
Type
offshore grid
Transmission Model
Developer Build & Transfer
Expected Life
25 years
Website
Supply Chain (16)
Project Timeline (29)
5 Dec 2023Stake Transaction
Triton Knoll OFTO Limited (Equitix 80% / TEPCO Power Grid 20%) completed the acquisition of the 857 MW Triton Knoll offshore transmission assets on 5 December 2023. Ofgem confirmed the determination to grant the licence on 1 November 2023. The transfer value was GBP 572.7 million. Assets transferred from Triton Knoll Offshore Wind Ltd (RWE 59% / J-POWER 25% / Kansai Electric 16%) under Ofgem's OFTO Tender Round 8.
Equitix acquired from RWE (100%)
5 Dec 2023Revenue Secured
Following Ofgem’s cost assessment decision and the grant of an offshore transmission licence to Triton Knoll OFTO Limited, the project secured its regulated OFTO revenue stream for the Triton Knoll transmission assets. The licence, awarded by the Authority, provides Triton Knoll OFTO Limited with a 23‑year revenue entitlement period starting from 5 December 2023, when funds were drawn and the transmission assets began operating under the OFTO regime, with the assessed transfer value incorporated into the tender revenue stream.
Nov 2023Capital Support Awarded
In November 2023, the Japan Bank for International Cooperation provided project financing for the offshore transmission assets associated with the Triton Knoll offshore wind farm, supplying debt funding to support the Triton Knoll OFTO infrastructure.
29 Nov 2023Other Permit Awarded
Authority: Ofgem · Licence: Offshore Transmission Cost Assessment Decision for Triton Knoll Offshore Wind Farm Transmission Assets
On 29 November 2023, Ofgem published its Offshore Transmission cost assessment decision for the Triton Knoll offshore wind farm transmission assets, concluding the cost assessment process for Tender Round 7. The decision confirmed the assessed transfer value that Triton Knoll OFTO Limited, a consortium of Equitix and TEPCO Power Grid, incorporated into its tender revenue stream and noted that the Authority had granted an offshore transmission licence to Triton Knoll OFTO Limited.
1 Nov 2023Other Permit Awarded
Authority: Ofgem · Licence: Offshore electricity transmission licence (OFTO licence)
The Gas and Electricity Markets Authority (Ofgem) awarded an offshore electricity transmission licence to Triton Knoll OFTO Limited on 1 November 2023. The licence permits and requires the company to own, maintain and operate the Triton Knoll offshore electricity transmission assets and entitles it to regulated revenue for 23 years from the financing drawdown date, exporting power from the Triton Knoll wind farm into National Grid Electricity Transmission’s system.
22 Sept 2022Other Permit Awarded
Licence: Individual exemption from the requirement for a transmission licence
An individual exemption from the requirement to hold a transmission licence for the Triton Knoll transmission assets was put in place in 2022 via The Electricity (Individual Exemption from the Requirement for a Transmission Licence) (Triton Knoll) (England) Order 2022. The exemption allowed the wind farm and associated export cable to continue operating while a subsea cable fault was repaired and its root cause assessed, which had delayed commercial negotiations to transfer the transmission assets to an OFTO.
May 2022Cable Repair
A subsea cable forming part of the Triton Knoll transmission assets was repaired, following a fault that had affected the wind farm’s operation. The repair works, together with a full assessment to determine the root cause of the cable fault, delayed the commercial negotiations to transfer the transmission assets to the Offshore Transmission Owner (OFTO).
23 Mar 2022Major Outage
On 23 March 2022, Triton Knoll Offshore Wind Farm Limited (TKOWL) requested a time-limited exemption from the requirement to hold an electricity transmission licence, explaining that it had experienced a subsea cable fault which delayed the transfer of the Triton Knoll transmission assets to the OFTO. The fault and associated delays, compounded by COVID-19 impacts, represented a significant outage affecting the offshore transmission system and its commercial handover timetable.
13 Jan 2022Commercial Operations Full Power
Turbine commissioning at Triton Knoll Offshore Wind Farm was successfully completed on 13 January 2022. RWE announced that the 857 MW project's 90 turbines had all been commissioned on time, with the offshore transmission system including export cables to the onshore substation at Bicker Fen fully operational. Full operations were confirmed in Q1 2022.
2021Cable Installation Complete
By 2021, construction of the Triton Knoll offshore transmission assets was reported as complete, implying completion of installation of the two offshore and two onshore 220 kV export cable circuits, offshore substations, and onshore substation ahead of commissioning, which finished in February 2021 and first generation on 26 February 2021.