A £30m contract to design, build and commission a new electricity substation near Inverness has been awarded by Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) to a joint venture between Amey and GE.
The project at Tomatin, south of Inverness, will enable new renewable energy to connect to the high voltage transmission system. Amey will deliver the detailed design, supply, build and commissioning of the substation. This follows a period of collaboration between SSEN, Amey and GE, during which Amey successfully delivered the outline design and planning during the second half of 2016 and 2017. Construction of the substation starts during winter 2017, and is due to finish in mid-2019.
Scotland’s Energy Strategy, published at the start of this year, has highlighted a renewed focus on energy efficiency – taking a targeted approach to reducing demand and improving the energy efficiency of Scotland’s homes and buildings through Scotland’s Energy Efficiency Programme.
The project will help meet the Scottish Government’s aims to make much more use of renewable energy in Scotland; particularly for 50% of Scotland’s energy consumption to be met by renewable energy.
Renewables are the single largest contributor to electricity generation in Scotland; and while a large volume of renewable energy generation has already been connected to the SSEN network, significantly more is expected to be connected in the coming years. This new generation will lead to higher power transfers through the SSEN network into central Scotland and England. The work is part of SSEN’s transmission reinforcement programme, which consists of a number of schemes to increase the capacity of the transmission network in the North of Scotland.
Kevin Fowlie, Managing Director of Utilities at Amey, said:
“We’re excited to be creating this new substation in the Highlands that will play a vital role in helping Scotland to make use of their renewable energy. Working with our partners GE, we will be designing a station for SSEN that helps ensure much more energy derived from renewables enters the network, helping provide electricity to homes across Scotland and the North of England.”
Simon Robertson, Lead Project Manager at SSEN, said:
“Beginning work at the new Tomatin substation is a significant milestone for the Knocknagael-Tomatin project and is the result of a rigorous development process, taking into account a range of technical, environmental and economic considerations. Feedback from the local community played an important part in the identification of a suitable location and design, which has been carefully designed to minimise the visual impact of the development in the surrounding area.
We understand the importance of working responsibly with the local community and are already working with Amey and GE to ensure that the views of the local community continue to be taken into account during the delivery of the works. We have established Community Liaison Groups in Tomatin and Farr and these are already helping achieve a collaborative approach to successful project delivery.”
