SSEN Transmission has welcomed the decision by Ofgem to give final approval to provide a subsea transmission link to the Orkney Islands.
SSEN said it was the “final piece in the jigsaw” to connect all three of Scotland’s main island groups, and would unlock “huge volumes of low carbon power” as well as giving a boost to the local economy.
The plans are “long awaited and much needed” according to SSEN, with the area near the Orkney Islands home to many offshore wind projects currently at development or early planning stage, according to the Wind Energy Network’s offshore wind map 2023.
The transmission link will enable the connection of 220MW of new renewable electricity, with a new substation at Finstown in Orkney and 57km of subsea cable that connects to a substation at Dounreay, Caithness.
With all necessary planning consents in place, work is now underway to plan the infrastructure on Orkney necessary to connect renewable generators on the island to the Finstown substation. Public consultations for this infrastructure are planned for the coming months.
SSEN Transmission will be hosting a ‘Meet the Buyer’ event next month in Kirkwall, for local businesses and suppliers to meet SSEN staff and discuss opportunities to get involved in helping to deliver the project.
Rob McDonald, managing director of SSEN Transmission, said: “Orkney is home to vast amounts of renewable energy and we have long championed the need to provide a transmission connection to help unlock its abundant green energy potential. We are delighted Ofgem has today granted final approval for the need for the project, which will unlock Orkney’s renewable potential and is the final piece in the jigsaw in connecting Scotland’s three main island groups.”
“We would again like to thank Ofgem for its constructive engagement over recent weeks and months and we now look forward to working with all stakeholders and re-engaging with the local community to deliver this long awaited and much needed investment,” McDonald added.
SSEN has a £10 million community benefit fund which will be spent on community projects in Orkney, Shetland, Angus and Argyll. Innovative renewable projects are also being developed in the Orkney area, such as an integrated wave power and subsea energy storage project which was demonstrated in a test project at the beginning of 2023.
Orkney is home to the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) which is currently aiming to develop the “world’s largest tidal turbine blades”. A 1.8MWh vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) was installed and energised at the centre in 2022.
