The UK energy regulator granted Macquarie and 3i Infrastructure Plc a license to own and operate a £269 million (€377m) offshore wind transmission link in the Irish Sea.

The license enables the West of Duddon Sands Transmission Plc venture to manage the electricity link for 20 years, Ofgem said Friday on its website.

The link transports power from the 389-megawatt Duddon Sands wind farm to the shore. Dong Energy AS and ScottishPower Renewables this week signed an agreement to sell the wind farm's transmission assets to the venture, which will operate and maintain the link. The project 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) off Walney Island in Cumbria generates enough electricity for about 270,000 homes a year. The UK had almost 4,500 megawatts of installed offshore wind capacity at the end of last year, the largest in Europe, according to European Wind Energy Association estimates.

Bloomberg