Scottish Hydro Electric (SHE) Transmission has awarded four contracts worth £600m to erect new electricity substations in the north of Scotland.

In a report by Construction Enquirer, the places have been awarded to a line-up of joint ventures.

The contracts are being let on a regional basis and will lead the way for the connection of more renewable generation in the north of the country.

The four contracts awards are:

* Caithness and Sutherland has been awarded to a consortium of ABB and Balfour Beatty Engineering Services

* The East Coast (including Aberdeenshire) has been awarded to a consortium of Alstom Grid UK and Enterprise Utility Services


* Moray and West has been awarded to a consortium of Bam Nuttall and Siemens Transmission & Development

* The fourth contract, to provide further competition, has been made to new consortium Miller Quatro, and involves Miller Construction and three Spanish companies - Sacyr Industrial, Isastur and Aditel - known collectively as Quatro T&D.

David Gardner, SSE’s Director of Transmission, said: "The award of these contracts, with some of the industry’s global experts will help deliver the infrastructure that is needed to support the connection of renewables, as well as providing a boost to the local communities where we are operating.

"We are also working on similar awards for all of the proposed overhead line and underground cable works."

SHE Transmission is part of Scottish & Southern Energy (SSE). It is investing heavily to upgrade and reinforce the network, with a £1.1bn capital investment programme that has the flexibility to increase by a further £4bn if required.

(JP)