A group of students has taken a trip from Orkney to view the latest developments on the Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission (SHE Transmission) site in Caithness.
The site visit was an opportunity for 13 MSc students studying Renewable Energy Development and Marine Energy Engineering at Heriot Watt University's Orkney-based International Centre for Island Technology (ICIT) to find out more about the project in Spittal, which will become the northern hub of a High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) underground and subsea cable system capable of transporting up to 1200MW of electricity over 100 miles to Blackhillock, near Keith, in Moray.
The £1.1 billion Caithness-Moray project will see a major reinforcement of the transmission network serving the north of Scotland and is needed to enable proposed wind, wave and tidal generation sites to connect. There are four main elements to the project, which will encompass work at eight substation sites, two converter stations and two overhead line reinforcement projects – as well as the installation of the HVDC cable itself.
Tea, coffee and bacon rolls were accompanied by three short presentations given to the students, before they set off for a twenty minute tour on a coach around the site; giving them the opportunity to the see the scale and the complexity of the project for themselves.
The presentations were given by SHE Transmission’s HVDC Site Supervisor, Paul Walkinshaw, Ulf Ljundberg of HVDC Technology ABB Grid Systems and SHE Transmission Project Manager, Craig Taylor, who said:
“We were delighted to welcome the students to our site and talk to them about SHE Transmission’s biggest project to date; providing a more robust and sustainable supply to our customers, while enabling further growth of the renewable sector in this region.
“It’s a great opportunity to bring the students to the project, to let them to see the cutting edge of HVDC technology being used and the skills that are being developed in the area where they live and may work in in the coming years. It’s at the very core of this project and as the demand for this technology grows – both in the UK and globally - we hope that these future engineers will play a part in its ongoing development.”
Heriot Watt Renewable Energy Lecturer Colin Bullen added:
“The Spittal HVDC project gave our MSc students the opportunity to see at first hand the technology and scale of project which is required to integrate Renewable Energy generation from the edges of the country into the main transmission network.
“The chance to meet with SHE Transmission and ABB staff and get their perspective on the effectiveness of the technology and practicalities of building the facility is invaluable, and brings to life the materials which are covered in the formal course lectures. We hope to visit again with next year’s MSc courses when the project will be nearing completion.”
To find out more about the Caithness-Moray HVDC Switching Station, please click here.