SSEN Transmission has announced the successful completion of the final phase of the new Port Ann to Crossaig electricity transmission line, after almost three years of construction.

Supported on 148 new steel-lattice towers, the new line is designed to be more resilient in extreme weather events, enhancing the security of supply for those living and working in the area.

The line was energised in June last year, and since then teams have worked to complete the remaining phases of construction on the project.

This included decommissioning the original transmission line in the area, which was first built in the 1950s, and safely deconstructing and removing the 196 old steel towers. The steel from these old towers has been sent to a recycling facility to be processed for repurposing. 

Teams have also worked to safely reinstate any remaining temporary access tracks which were required during construction of the project, carefully working to restore the land as before.  All temporary office  buildings near Lochgilphead and any associated site infrastructure have also been removed.

Stretching from Port Ann substation near Lochgilphead to the substation at Crossaig, the new overhead line developed by SSEN Transmission and their Principal Contractor Balfour Beatty is around 45km in length. 

The line was built to replace the existing 132kV line, originally built in the 1950s, which was reaching the end of its operational life.  Now fully energised, the overhead line will initially operate at 132kV with the capacity to be upgraded to 275kV in the future.  This helps form a key part of SSEN Transmission’s Argyll 275kV strategy, which will see the network in the region reinforced to enable the connection of up to 600 MW of new renewable generation, playing a key role in the transition to net-zero emissions.  

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The Port Ann to Crossaig project is the second phase in the wider Inveraray to Crossaig powerline upgrade, with the first phase – Inveraray to Port Ann – energised in July 2021.   The replacement line, which stretches a total of 84km across both phases, serves as the main arterial route for electricity transmission in Argyll, keeping the lights on for homes and businesses throughout the Peninsula. 

This complex engineering project has taken more than 1.5 million people-hours to date to deliver, with a workforce of more than 300 at the peak of construction across both phases of the project.

Building a project of this size has brought significant benefit to the local economy.  Teams across both Phase 1 and 2 of the Inveraray to Crossaig project have contributed significantly to the £7 million spent by SSEN Transmission and their contractors on food and accommodation in the Argyll and Bute Council area since April 2020, including spending over 50,000 nights in local accommodation.

As a stakeholder-led business, the team has worked to keep the community informed throughout the project via monthly community liaison groups to keep stakeholders up to date on progress. The team also carried out various volunteering initiatives to give something back to the area, which included projects such as installing a new sandpit for outdoor nursery MAKI Pups.

In 2022, SSEN Transmission, Argyll and the Isles Coast and Countryside Trust (ACT) and Argyll and Bute Council joined forces to help deliver these tree planting commitments and in doing so, help support and enhance Scotland’s rainforest in Argyll.  The ground-breaking partnership has already seen the initial phase of planting get underway on Argyll and Bute Council’s sites near Lochgilphead, which once complete will see approximately 50,000 native trees planted.

In December 2023, the Inveraray to Crossaig line was also awarded the prize for Outstanding Project at the Scottish Green Energy Awards, which celebrate the very best in renewable energy across Scotland. 

SSEN Transmission Project Manager Peter Brum, said: 

"The completion of this project is the result of years of hard work and dedication from our teams and contractors Balfour Beatty and Scottish Woodlands, and their professionalism in overcoming the various challenges which they were presented with – from extreme weather conditions to the remote and varying landscape of the Argyll area.

"Since the line energised last year, we’ve been busy completing the remaining phases of land reinstatement work and removing the temporary access tracks used during the project, carefully working to restore the land as before and ensure our impact on the environment was kept to a minimum.  We’ve also worked to take down the old towers which have helped serve the peninsula for over 60 years, and have now been replaced by the new transmission line to provide Argyll with a more secure, reliable and safe means of transporting energy to homes and businesses.

"As a team we are proud to have delivered a project which will help ensure a more resilient transmission line in Argyll, built to withstand the extreme weather events while also helping to deliver a network for net zero emissions.

"We would like to thank the communities and landowners along the route for their support and continued patience throughout the build, without which the project and its role in reinforcing the transmission network in Argyll would not have been possible."