The Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem) has selected Balfour Beatty Equitix Consortium as the preferred bidder to own and operate the offshore transmission link of the 220MW Humber Gateway wind project in the UK.

Selection of Balfour Beatty Equitix Consortium, which consists of Balfour Beatty Investments and Equitix, concludes the third bidding round for the offshore transmission owner (OFTO) projects.

The potential agreement for the offshore project will entitle the consortium to be in control of its operations for 20 years.

The £700m ($1.17bn) wind project, located in the North Sea around 8km from the coast of East Yorkshire, features 73 wind turbines that can meet the energy requirements of around 170,000 homes in the UK.

E.ON started generating power from the facility in June this year.

Transmission assets for the offshore project, which have been set-up and are presently owned by E.ON Climate and Renewables UK Humber Wind, has an estimated value of £173.3m. The assets will be handed over to the OFTO at licence granting.

Since its introduction to the UK by Ofgem and the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) in 2009, the offshore transmission regime has offered investment of nearly £2.6bn.

Completion of tender round three is expected to deliver £350m for consumers.