OFTO regime launch (2009)
Britain introduced the offshore transmission owner regime in 2009 to competitively tender ownership of cable and substation links from offshore wind farms. Before it, developers built and owned their own connections, leaving each wind farm with a de facto monopoly and little incentive to control costs.
First rounds awarded transmission assets to financial and utility consortia, introducing long-term investors to offshore grid infrastructure.
By 2026, winning bidders had invested over £10 billion across 28 wind farms, making TR14 the largest round yet.
TR14 is the regime's biggest single test, with one round worth roughly a third of all OFTO investment to date.
