Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission (SHE Transmission) has awarded four contracts worth a total of £450m.

The contracts will help to deliver new and upgraded power lines in the north of Scotland, it is understood, and will help support more than 600 jobs.

Local economies associated with the projects are also expected to benefit from the schemes.

There has been an increasing demand for connection to the transmission network from renewable developers in recent times, and SHE Transmission has said it is investing heavily to upgrade and reinforce the network.

A £1.5bn capital investment programme will be provided, but has the flexibility to increase by a further £4bn if required. To date, more than 2,600MW of renewable energy have been connected in the SHE Transmission licensed area.

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The programme is also an integral part of the investment programme and will help to facilitate the connection of more renewable generation in the north of Scotland.

The four contracts have been awarded to:

• Balfour Beatty Utility Solutions Limited

• Amec Group Limited

• MSVE Transmission a joint venture partnership of Morgan Sindall plc and Vinci Energies United Kingdom PLC

• Babcock Networks Limited.

David Gardner, 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.

"These awards follow on from our announcement in March 2013 where we placed contracts for the value of £600m to facilitate the delivery of new electricity substations in the north of Scotland.

"We believe the communities in which we work and operate are very important and that we play a valuable role in contributing to the local economy. We've therefore made sure that communities, local employment and local supply chain are at the heart of the contracts. This will build on the work we are already doing to develop a trained, skilled workforce."

(JP)