Walney 2 OFTO
OperationalOffshore GridGB182 MW132 kV48.3 km2011
Basic information
9 fieldsAlso Known As
Walney 2 OFTO · Walney II OFTO · Blue Transmission Walney 2 · Blue Transmission Walney 2 Limited · Walney 2 offshore transmission system · Walney II Transmission Assets · BTW2
Status
operational
Capacity
182 MW
Project Company
Type
offshore grid
Transmission Model
Developer Build & Transfer
Expected Life
20 years
Website
Supply Chain (7)
Project Timeline (24)
31 Jul 2017Maintenance Other
Blue Transmission Walney 2 Limited (BTW2L) awarded RES (Renewable Energy Systems) a 15‑year operations and maintenance contract for the Walney 2 offshore transmission asset on 31 July 2017. The agreement covers the OFTO infrastructure, including the offshore substation and the 132 kV HVAC export cable between the Walney II offshore substation and the onshore grid connection at Stanah, with RES providing planned and unplanned maintenance, 24/7 control room services, fault response and offshore logistics support.
20 Mar 2016System Restoration
After completion of repairs to the damaged export cable, the Walney 2 offshore transmission link was re-energised and operational service was restored on 20 March 2016, ending a major outage that had begun with a breakdown on 4 December 2015.
Feb 2016Cable Repair
Following the 4 December 2015 breakdown of the Walney 2 export cable, a prolonged repair campaign was undertaken through winter 2015/16, during which bad weather repeatedly hampered investigation and repair work; the damaged cable section was exposed, re-buried by sea action, and finally recovered to shore in February before being jointed, reinstalled and reburied.
4 Dec 2015Major Outage
On 4 December 2015 the Walney 2 offshore transmission connection suffered a breakdown in its export cable, taking the link out of service for over 105 days in 2015/16 and causing a potential loss of 120,010.8 MWh of transmitted power while the fault was investigated and repaired in challenging winter offshore conditions.
~Apr 2015Regulatory Other
Authority: Ofgem · Licence: Logging of 2015/16 Walney 2 OFTO export cable outage as an exceptional event in availability regime review
In its review of OFTO performance for the 2015/16 year, Ofgem recorded Walney 2’s prolonged subsea export cable outage, which began with a breakdown on 4 December and lasted over 105 days, as an ‘exceptional event’. Walney 2 consequently failed the 98% availability target for the year, but whether financial penalties would apply was left contingent on Ofgem’s final income‑adjusting decisions, with the outages already logged as exceptional in the regulatory process.
2013Regulatory Other
Following a cable failure on the Walney 2 export connection in November 2013, Ofgem decided that the incident constituted an "exceptional event" and ruled that the OFTO, Blue Transmission Walney 2, would not be penalised under its availability incentive. The regulator concluded the fault was caused by mechanical damage to the onshore export cable ducting and sheathing that pre‑dated the OFTO licence, and it therefore adjusted Walney 2’s allowed export availability for the affected month from 49,649MWh to 120,604MWh, preserving the OFTO’s regulated revenue for that period.
Nov 2013Major Outage
In November 2013 the Walney 2 export connection experienced a cable failure that forced the offshore transmission link out of service for 17 days, reducing availability while the fault was located and addressed.
Nov 2013Regulatory Other
Authority: Ofgem · Licence: Exceptional event determination for 2013 Walney 2 OFTO cable failure
After a 17‑day outage in November 2013 caused by a failure in one phase of the Walney 2 onshore export cable, Ofgem ruled that the incident constituted an ‘exceptional event’ under the OFTO availability incentive regime. The regulator concluded that mechanical damage to the cable ducting and sheathing had occurred before Blue Transmission Walney 2 became the licensee, so the OFTO would not be penalised and was credited with an additional 70,955MWh of deemed export availability for that month.
Sept 2012Stake Transaction
Following Ofgem’s first transitional tender round, Blue Transmission Walney 2 Limited, incorporated by Macquarie Capital Group Limited and Barclays Integrated Infrastructure Fund, was granted the offshore transmission licence for Walney 2 and acquired the Walney 2 transmission assets (export cable, offshore substation, onshore substation and onshore export cable) from developer Walney (UK) Offshore Windfarms Ltd for an assessed transfer value of approximately £109.8 million.
Blue Transmission Walney 1 Limited acquired from Walney (UK) Offshore Windfarms Ltd (100%)
26 Sept 2012Fid Financial Close
Following completion of its detailed cost assessment, Ofgem determined an assessed transfer value of £109,758,628 for the Walney 2 transmission assets and granted an offshore transmission licence to Blue Transmission Walney 2 Limited. The OFTO incorporated this assessed transfer value into its tender revenue stream, enabling financial close on the acquisition of the Walney 2 offshore transmission system from the developer under the Transitional Tender Round 1 regime.