Professional Advisory Services to Support OFGEM’s OFTO Team

OFTO licences, granted through the competitive process, confer certain rights and responsibilities on OFTOs, including the right to a regulated revenue stream for a defined period in return for provision of transmission services. Through the tender process, interested parties have the opportunity to bid to become an OFTO. The offshore transmission assets that the OFTO takes ownership of are acquired at a transfer value determined by the Authority. Following transfer of ownership, the OFTO owns and manages the transmission assets (including the cables and associated connection equipment) between the offshore point of connection with the generator and the point of connection with the onshore network. Following the transfer of ownership, the OFTO is required to comply with the licence conditions. The revenue stream also includes mechanisms which adjust the OFTO’s regulated revenue stream for certain ‘pass-through’ items. The Income Adjusting Event (IAE) is one such ‘pass-through’ revenue adjustment mechanism for costs and expenses that have arisen during the revenue term, for example, due to fault or failure of the system (subject to defined pre-requisites), or at the Authority’s discretion. The Authority is responsible for the decision-making when such claims are made. Other policy development and enforcement actions may also be required during the revenue stream. This procurement is seeking expert consultancy services to support decision-making and policy development for all such requirements in the regime.