SSE’s transmission business, SHE Transmission, has recently entered the start of an eight-year price control set by Ofgem. The next phase for the business will see us building on the significant programme of investment in transmission infrastructure already under way, connecting a large amount of what’s primarily renewable generation to central and southern Scotland and the rest of Great Britain.
Existing work includes our highest profile project, replacing Beauly Denny, which, I’m pleased to announce, has reached a significant milestone today with the energisation of the new 400kV and 275kV circuits and associated substations in the North section between Beauly and Fort Augustus.
This is the first time that SHE Transmission has operated at this higher voltage, a good reflection of the volume of generation from renewable sources that we are now connecting. The project will be the longest transmission project ever built in the UK and, with the section through the Corrieyairack pass in the Monadhliath Mountains, the highest. Its planning and construction is a significant achievement by the team, of which the company is justifiably proud.
Along with the continued work on the central and south sections of Beauly Denny, the transmission programme is continuing apace with several projects to upgrade the core of the network in the north ofScotland. As we enter the new price control, we have recently received positive feedback from Ofgem on the Kintyre-Hunterston link, which is designed to deliver around 260MW of capacity by 2016, and we are working with Ofgem on approval of the Caithness Moray link which will connect significant renewables capacity in Caithness. All this work could see the value of the Transmission network (Regulated Asset Value) increase to around £1.4bn in 2014 - a growth of £1bn in just four years.
Our current programme for the eight year period from 2013 - 21 has approval for a further £1.4bn of investment, one of the largest infrastructure investments in Scotland. This investment programme will connect significant amounts of renewable energy to the grid; contributing to energy security, economic growth and decarbonisation of electricity generation. We have the flexibility to increase this significantly, depending on the needs of large scale electricity generators in the north of Scotland, including the development of offshore wind, onshore wind and marine.
With one eight-year price control now under way for SHE Transmission, work on preparing for the next one – for SSE’s electricity distribution businesses in the north of Scotland and southern central England - is well under way. It will run from 2015 to 2023 and in preparation for it, we have recently submitted our business plan to Ofgem.
As a recent blog by Aileen Mcleod, SSE’s Head of Regulation (Networks), noted, “The electricity distribution cable that brings power down streets and to homes and businesses keeps modern life going.” I couldn’t agree more and a key challenge for us has been anticipating how households and businesses will be using electricity in 2023 – for example, will there be a significant amount of electric vehicles charging outside houses?
Our plan commits us to delivering ‘more for less’ in looking after our 130,000km of cable and 106,000 substations, keeping the lights on for our 3.7 million customers and delivering all this for a cut of 10% in the electricity distribution element of customers bills in 2015. We’d really like to hear your feedback on our plan at Your Future Energy Network.
The combination of these two businesses make an important contribution to SSE and to the implementation of government policy and to meeting customers’ priorities by cutting carbon emissions, promoting sustainable economic growth and, where possible, reducing costs for the people who use electricity.