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Inverness hub aimed at driving £20bn renewable projects opens doors in move which ‘underlines commitment’ by SSEN to Highland capital





SSEN Transmission's Director of Offshore Development and Delivery Sandy MacTaggart (left) with Cllr Raymond Bremner.
SSEN Transmission's Director of Offshore Development and Delivery Sandy MacTaggart (left) with Cllr Raymond Bremner.

A major new hub helping drive offshore renewable developments in the region has opened in Inverness - in a move that an energy giant says "underlines its commitment" to the city and the wider region.

SSEN Transmission's new hub, which will have capacity for 100 team members, has been created to help drive its £20 billion Pathway to 2030 projects.

These will see SSEN carry out a range of offshore grid reinforcements - such as new overhead lines, substations, convertor stations, and subsea cables - in anticipation of further renewables growth in the Highlands as the region pushes towards net-zero.

Highland Council leader Raymond Bremner visited the hub, which has been created inside SSEN's existing Inverness building, to officially open it.

SSEN said the new office wing was a sign of an "exciting period of growth" at the firm and will serve as a "collaborative space" which aims to "bring the supply chain to the Highlands, building a bridge between these global businesses and the capital of the north".

It added that all companies involved with working on the projects will be able to access the new space, which contains desk space, meeting rooms and collaboration areas – designed to encourage staff to get together in person to collaborate, innovate and communicate – as they work on the development of major electricity transmission infrastructure across the country.

The new office space has been refurbished from an area previously unused in SSEN’s Inverness building.

The new offshore hub will house teams working predominantly on the offshore high voltage direct current (HVDC) links – including major subsea electricity projects such as the Western Isles HVDC Link and Spittal to Peterhead HVDC Link, which are currently under development, as well as the Orkney Link project which involves installing a new high voltage alternating current (HVAC) subsea cable between Orkney and Caithness.

SSEN Transmission, the transmission business unit of the SSE Group, has a longstanding presence in Inverness.

Cllr Raymond Bremner (left) was given a tour of the new Pathway to 2030 offshore hub in SSEN Transmission's Inverness office.
Cllr Raymond Bremner (left) was given a tour of the new Pathway to 2030 offshore hub in SSEN Transmission's Inverness office.

Today the new offshore hub was officially opened by Cllr Bremner who was welcomed by SSEN Transmission director for offshore development and delivery, Sandy MacTaggart, for a tour of the new space. To commemorate the new opening, Cllr Bremner revealed a new plaque which will sit proudly in the main entrance of the new office space.

To celebrate the opening of the new hub representatives were welcomed from across the 11 businesses and supply chain partners who will be key in supporting SSEN Transmission’s delivery of its ambitious offshore Pathway to 2030 programme. This includes Balfour Beatty, BAM, Hitachi Energy, J Murphy, Linxon, Morgan Sindall, Mott MacDonald, NKT, RJ McLeod, Robertson and Sumitomo Electric Van Oord Consortium.

SSEN Transmission is on a rapid period of growth, having recently celebrated its 2000th team member joining the business and growing its employee headcount by fivefold in just five years.

The firm is also making strides in recruiting 500 new net-zero jobs by the end of March 2025, with the new roles spread throughout the country.

Elsewhere in Inverness, SSEN Transmission is also building a new £17m state of the art operations warehouse at Inverness Airport Business Park, which is being constructed by Beauly-based firm Global Infrastructure. The warehouse is set to be completed in spring 2025.

Highland Council Leader Councillor Raymond Bremner said: “Today marks a significant milestone for the Highlands as we embark on a transformative journey towards a low-carbon future. SSEN Transmission’s investment in the ASTI Offshore Pathway to 2030 will not only drive energy security but also bring lasting economic benefits to our communities.

Cllr Raymond Bremner opened the new Pathway to 2030 suite at SSEN Transmission's Inverness office.
Cllr Raymond Bremner opened the new Pathway to 2030 suite at SSEN Transmission's Inverness office.

“Through strong public-private partnerships, we’re creating opportunities for local jobs, innovation, and a thriving green economy that will empower our region for generations to come.”

SSEN Transmission’s director of offshore development and delivery, Sandy MacTaggart, said: “We have a major task ahead of us to deliver these projects by 2030, and we can only do this through effective collaboration with all parties involved, so we’re thrilled to make Inverness our offshore hub and officially open our new Pathway to 2030 space today.

“The new office will help to bring our supply chain partners, many of whom are global players in the energy industry, to the capital of the Highlands, building a bridge to effective delivery of these key subsea projects which will play a major part in the race to net zero.

“With a longstanding history in Inverness, today’s opening of our offshore Pathway to 2030 hub marks an exciting next step in our continued growth here at SSEN Transmission, and we look forward to advancing these critical offshore infrastructure projects which will play a huge part in the fight against climate change and delivering home-grown energy security.”


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