SSEN Transmission has announced the next phase of its public engagement to inform their 'Pathway to 2030' infrastructure in the north of Scotland.

SSEN Transmission is seeking views on the next phase of development for four critical national transmission infrastructure schemes across the north of Scotland that will help enable the connection and transportation of renewable energy around Great Britain. The projects form part of a GB-wide programme of network reinforcements, all crucial in delivering UK and Scottish Government energy security and net zero targets.

Views are being sought at a series of events across the region for several proposed onshore 400kV electricity transmission schemes which include a series of new 400kV overhead lines, overhead line upgrades and new 400kV substations and HVDC converter stations:

• Beauly – Blackhillock – New Deer – Peterhead;

• Kintore – Tealing;

• Spittal – Loch Buidhe – Beauly;

• Beauly – Denny; and

• The Netherton Hub

These events follow on from the most recent round of consultation on SSEN Transmission's 'Pathway to 2030' programme of network developments, which took place in February and March this year.

For the Kintore to Tealing project, we announced last week that we are now actively considering overhead line alignments proposed by community representatives and landowners and to ensure all viable alignments are fully assessed, consultation on overhead line alignments for this project will now take place later this year. Consultations for proposed substations at Emmock (Tealing) and Hurlie (Fetteresso Forrest), as well as the Alyth – Tealing and Tealing – Westfield overhead line 400kV upgrades, will continue as planned.

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SSEN Transmission's Projects and Community Engagement teams will be hosting:

• Second formal pre-application consultation for new substations;

• Consultation on potential alignments for the proposed new Spittal – Beauly and Beauly –Peterhead 400kV overhead lines; and 

• Consultation on our proposals for the upgrade of the existing Alyth – Tealing and Tealing – Westfield overhead lines from 275kV to 400kV

Community consultation undertaken so far has helped to inform significant changes to project plans, including:

• At Blackhillock, south-east of Keith, in Moray, the proposed new substation site moved from that consulted on earlier in 2023 to the east of Keith, to one of the other shortlisted sites to the south-east of the existing Blackhillock substation.

• The previously proposed new substation at Fiddes was also relocated to a new proposed site in Fetteresso Forest, in close proximity to the existing Fetteresso substation.

• Several other changes and additional options on overhead line routes, some of which have been put forward by community groups, to mitigate against local concerns.

Rob McDonald, Managing Director of SSEN Transmission, said: "Our £20bn programme will help unlock cleaner, more secure energy for homes and businesses for generations to come and is one of the biggest investment programmes that the north of Scotland has seen for decades.

"The upcoming round of public engagement and pre-application consultation events will be crucial in further informing the development of these critical national infrastructure projects in a way that balances the needs of all stakeholders, delivers a positive and lasting legacy, and unlocks the energy and economic potential of the north of Scotland.

"As a stakeholder-led business, the views shared at these events really matter and help to shape the development of our projects massively, as can be seen in the changes made to our proposals after the first two rounds of consultation in 2023 and earlier this year too. As ever, we'd really encourage anyone who has an interest in our projects to come along, find out about our plans and share their thoughts."

Consultation events will take place from 20 May to 20 June, with further public engagement events for the Kintore to Tealing project to be organised later this summer. All in-person feedback on the proposals will be welcomed until the events end, however, the project and community engagement teams will always accept feedback and input throughout the development stage of each project.