Consultation events under way on Spittal to Peterhead subsea link
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Consultation events are taking place in Caithness this week to gather feedback from the public on plans for an undersea electricity cable linking the county with Aberdeenshire.
The sessions in Spittal, Wick and Watten are focusing on subsea cable landfall locations, onshore cable corridors and potential subsea cable corridors for SSEN Transmission's proposed Spittal to Peterhead high voltage direct current (HVDC) scheme.
The first drop-in event was held in Spittal village hall on Tuesday, followed by one at the Norseman Hotel in Wick today (Wednesday, 2pm to 7pm) and finally in Watten hall on Thursday (also 2pm to 7pm).
The 2GW Spittal/Peterhead scheme is part of a Pathway to 2030 programme.
Last year, National Grid set out how the transmission network needs to develop to accommodate the growth in renewable electricity across Britain. The projects identified within Pathway to 2030 have been identified as "critical" to delivering UK and Scottish government targets.
SSEN Transmission says that for the north of Scotland more than £7 billion of investment is needed in the transmission network to achieve the 2030 targets "and help the country on its pathway to net-zero and greater energy independence".
The Spittal/Peterhead proposal will involve new converter stations at both locations and an HVDC link consisting of some 220km of subsea cable.
A spokesperson for SSEN Transmission said: “It’s incredibly important to us that members of the communities impacted by this work have their say, and we would like to invite anyone who wants to find out more about the project, or give us their thoughts about the proposals, to attend one of our consultation events to meet the project team.”
