Four major contracts with a cumulative value of approximately £450 million have been awarded by Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission (SHE Transmission) to facilitate the delivery of new and upgraded power lines in the north of Scotland. This latest investment will help support over 600 jobs and is expected to provide a boost to local economies associated with the projects.
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."
Demand for connection to the transmission network from renewable developers has increased considerably, requiring significant change to the way that it is configured and operated. SHE Transmission is investing heavily to upgrade and reinforce the network, with a £1.5bn capital investment programme that has the flexibility to increase by a further £4bn if required. To date, over 2,600 Megawatts of renewable energy have been connected in the SHE Transmission licensed area.
The development of the transmission network is 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 awards have been made as follows:-
• 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