Energy giant SSEN Transmission asks Highland Council to approve major expansion of Loch Ness tourist village substation
A power giant is asking Highland Council to approve plans for a major expansion of a substation just over a mile away from a popular Loch Ness tourist village.
SSEN Transmission’s Fort Augustus substation, near the southern end of Loch Ness, is seen as crucial to the energy firm’s entire £20 billion upgrade of electricity infrastructure across the north of Scotland.
The controversial ‘path to 2030’ investment, stretching through communities from Spittal in Caithness to Beauly and east to Peterhead - and with connections to the Western Isles and Orkney - will transform how power generated from green energy sources is transported to markets in the south.
But the Fort Augustus hub seen as vital in connecting other parts of the Highlands with that network, linking to Beauly, but also to Skye in the west and Denny near Falkirk in the south.
It is thought the proposal will increase the site’s footprint by around a third.
The UK and Scottish governments’ aspirations are for ‘path to 2030’ to transform the electricity network across the Highlands in support of national carbon net zero and energy security targets.
The Fort Augustus 400kV substation upgrade project proposes an extension to the existing substation at Auchterawe, as part of an uprating of the Beauly-Denny overhead line to operate at 400kV on both circuits.
One of the circuits has previously operated at 275 kV since its energisation.
The firm has been asked by us to clarify the scale of the extension proposed at Fort Augustus.
But a media statement said it would include the construction of a new platform to accommodate new substation buildings, and the replacement of existing infrastructure which is at the end of its operational life.
The application also includes proposals for a temporary construction compound.
The upgrade would also provide a grid connection for the first large scale pumped storage project to be developed in the UK for more than 40 years in Coire Glas.
It would also connect with the Bhlaraidh wind farm to the west of Loch Ness and an upgraded line connecting Skye.
Highland Council had previously approved an application to install new equipment at the Fort Augustus substation, but that has been superseded by this latest application.
SSEN Transmission is 75 per cent-owned by SSE plc’s shareholders and 25 per cent by Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board.
Rebecca Simister, senior development project manager for SSEN Transmission, said: “We are pleased to have submitted our planning application seeking approval for an upgrade to our Fort Augustus substation.
“The upgrade, which will be subject to a landscape and habitat management plan to achieve biodiversity net gain, is a key enabler to our proposals to upgrade the existing Beauly-Denny overhead line which will not require any additional overhead infrastructure.
“These projects are a critical part of our £20bn investment to upgrade the transmission network in support of national net zero and energy security ambitions, and we look forward to working with The Highland Council to progress our application.”
