Ofgem E-Serve – the division of the regulator responsible for environmental programmes – says the £428m ($696m) link in the Thames Estuary is the largest offshore transmission project to reach the stage of preferred-bidder award.

Blue Transmission is owned by an international group of partners in Macquarie Capital Group, Barclays, Mitsubishi and Frontier Power.

It joined other contenders in a process that sees companies compete to be named offshore transmission owners (OFTOs).