Strathpeffer protest against route of upgraded powerline
A protest has been held against the planned route of an upgraded electricity power line in the Highlands.About 30 people held a demonstration during a consultation event in Strathpeffer by energy firm SSEN Transmission on Monday.SSEN Transmission said the upgrade was needed for connecting power generated by renewable schemes in the north of Scotland with consumers across the UK.But campaign group Strathpeffer and Contin Better Cable Route claimed the firm had not listened to its concerns.
SSEN Transmission plans to upgrade an overhead line near Spittal in Caithness to near Beauly, about 12 miles (19km) west of Inverness.The total length of the line is about 106 miles (170km) and it would be carried by steel towers of an average height of about 57m (187ft).
The campaign's Dan Bailey said the proposed route would take the line through woodland at Contin and near the historic village of Strathpeffer.He said: "We have been trying to engage constructively with this company as a community for the last two years to come up with a solution to routing in an area that would be acceptable to more people."It seems that has fallen on deaf ears."They could hardly have chosen a worse route."
An SSEN Transmission spokesperson said the upgrade would help to deliver clean power and improve energy security.A spokesperson said: "These projects will also alleviate grid constraints and be the catalyst for economic growth across the north of Scotland, adding billions of value to the economy and supporting tens of thousands of jobs."The need for these projects has been independently assessed and recommended by the National Energy System Operator, have been approved by the independent energy regulator, Ofgem, and fully endorsed by the UK government as part of its Clean Power Action Plan."
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The Herald Scotland
20-06-2025
- The Herald Scotland
Does Scotland really need more offshore wind farms?
Often critics will say there are already enough onshore wind, but what does that mean? And is that really seen in the figures? The claims are examined here, as well as key issues like constraint payments and why so many of the UK's onshore wind farms are in Scotland. Claim: Scotland is already producing more electricity than it needs Yes. Electricity transfers data show that Scotland exported 21.0 TWh of electricity and imported 1.3 TWh of electricity in 2024. This means that Scotland's net exports of electricity (exports minus imports) in 2024 was 19.7 TWh. In 2024, Scotland generated a record 38.4 terawatt hours (TWh) of renewable electricity, suggesting that it exported around half. Claim: Scotland already has enough onshore wind capacity to meet its total electricity 2050 demand. Currently, according to DESNZ, Scotland has an onshore wind capacity of 10GW, and a gross peak demand of 4GW. However, NESO, in its Ten Year Statement estimates gross peak demand for Scotland in 2050 at between 8.5GW and 11GW depending on what degree of electrification takes place. 'Over the next 10 years,' it says, 'rapid growth in renewable -generated electricity in Scotland will mainly be attributed to offshore wind. This will cause far greater power transfer requirements across the Scottish boundaries, increasing the network reinforcement needs in some areas. Generation capacity in Scotland heavily exceeds demand, thus Scotland will be expected to export power into the rest of Great Britain most of the time except during periods of prolonged low wind, where the reverse may occur.' Graph of Scotland's gross electricity demand from NESO's Ten Year Statement (Image: NESO) However, in a renewable system, where generation is intermittent, capacity needs to be significantly higher than peak demand. Since there are, as yet, no target figures for Scotland's wind generation for 2050 – though overall, according to the Climate Change Committee's Seventh Carbon Budget, UK is aiming for 125GW offshore wind, 27GW onshore wind and 106GW solar- it's hard to know by how much Scotland is likely to exceed its own demand. Claim: Scotland already has enough wind consented and in planning for 2030 or 2035 One Caithness-bsed campaigner who has looked at the figures, is Kathrin Haltiner, who says, 'For the whole of Scotland for 2030 and even to 2035, what is already in the planning system, without any scoping applications, is more than enough to reach these caps and these caps are important because anything that goes over these caps is not going to help with net zero.' In a recent analysis she writes about the North of Scotland, noting that the Clean Power Action Plan 'caps onshore wind farm development for North Scotland at 9GW for 2030 and only adds a very small capacity increase for the whole of Scotland until 2035. Clearly SSEN's ambitions are oversized.' 'North Scotland already has 6.3GW of additional onshore wind farm capacity in the pipeline: 0.2GW under construction, 3.2GW consented and awaiting construction, and 2.9GW in planning (excluding projects only at scoping stage). "Together with the already built 3.8GW the potential capacity in North Scotland is 10.1GW, that is 1.1GW over the capacity advised in the Clean Power 2030 Action Plan. This means consents can be given more selectively from now on. The urgency used as an argument from developers to get a consent does not hold up anymore.' Do these figures stack up? What is current onshore wind capacity According to DESNZ, at the end of last year Scotland had an installed onshore wind capacity of 10.3GW of onshore wind. Haltiner came up with a slightly different figure when she added up all the operational capacity in the Renewable Energy Projects Database, making 9.4GW. This is also the figure I got when I did the same calculation. How much more is already in the process of being built? While recent official totals haven't been published, it is possible to total up the projects categorised as under construction on the Renewable Energy Planning Database, giving a figure for onshore wind under construction in Scotland of 1.7GW. A further list of projects consented to, but awaiting construction, totals 5.4GW. All together that's 7.1GW already underway. What about projects that are already in the planning process? Again, data in the REPD gives us an idea of what is a live planning application, as well as those projects that have been abandoned, refused or withdrawn. Kathrin Haltiner has totalled these up to 8.1GW. How does this compare with the cap for Scotland for electricity generation for 2030? The Clean Energy Action Plan, in its update on its annex, states that Scotland, as whole, has a cap for electricity generation for 2030 of 20.5GW. This is a massive leap from the current estimate of 10.3GW, and even more from the 9.4GW in the REPD. But are we nevertheless, as Kathrin Haltiner, suggests already in danger of exceeding it? According to Haltiner's calculations, if we add already operational wind to all the wind farms already under construction and consented to is, for the North of Scotland, 1.1GW greater than the sum of all onshore wind projects that are operational, in construction, consented to and in the planning system. For South of Scotland, the equivalent total is 2.5GW more than the 11.5GW cap. But the question remains, how many of those projects will make it through planning and become final operational projects? Another way of looking at it is that if, across Scotland, we already have 16.5GW already in operation, in construction or consented to, leaving only 4GW still to take up. But there are actually twice as many (8.1GW) of projects sitting in the planning system and not all of those can happen. Of course, some of those may, in any case, be withdrawn, some projects will be abandoned, others reduced, and some, even from the list of projects awaiting construction may not even happen. Others may not happen within the timeframe. Does that mean we are set to have much onshore wind for current caps? No, but in the unlikely event that every project that is sitting in planning were to be built Scotland would significantly exceed its cap. These figures suggest that only half of these projects can happen. Is it a reason to slow down? Not according to Scottish Renewables. Their director of onshore, Morag Watson put it this way, with different but similar figures - actually suggesting that even less of the projects currently in planning will be needed by 2030, but noting the need for continued urgency. 'Scotland has to increase its onshore wind capacity from 10GW to 20GW in about five years. In Scotland at the moment in the pipeline of projects that are consented but not yet built, we have 7.5 GW. So we need everything in the pipeline and just over 2 GW more. So this idea we have too much wind already is just not borne out by the strategic plans.' She also points out that the process of going through scoping, planning and constructing a wind farm can be long. 'Viking windfarm on Shetland, that was a 15 year process to make the needs case for that. Renewable projects can wait up to ten years for a grid connection and you only get a connection to the grid when it's needed.' 'A project can go through the planning system, but just because they have planning permission doesn't mean they are about to get built and connected to the grid. Post planning they'll get a grid connection date and they will work to that grid connection date as to when they start building.' Mostly Watson notes, the strategy up till 2030 is about reducing our dependency on gas, which is not only responsible for significant carbon emissions, but also, through its high price, drives up electricity bills. By 2030, the goal is to reduce the amount of gas used to generate electricity down to about 5% on the system. She says: 'At the moment it's about taking the gas and other fossil fuel generation off the system – replacing it with renewables because they are cheaper and more reliable in terms of pricings that you pay. ' Is there also enough in the pipeline for 2035? 'Post 2030,' Morag Watson explains, 'what we start to see is the electrification of transport and heat really accelerating. That's when you see electricity demand really grow." The next milestone and cap along the way is 2035, and what's striking is how little more capacity – just 700MW – is being allocated to Scotland over that period. This is a tiny fraction of what Scotland has already built and is set to achieve in the next five years. Scotland's offshore wind industry has already flagged that up as a problem. A group of 13 developers signed an open letter to UK Energy Secretary Ed Miliband amid concerns of a 'de-facto ban' on Scottish onshore wind post-2030. Earlier this year a group of In the letter, they stated: 'Currently, the cap in the Plan will allow only 700MW of additional Scottish onshore wind capacity to connect between 2031 and 2035. 'This would result in a decrease in the rate of installations allowed after 2030 of over 90%, and amounts to a de-facto ban on Scottish onshore wind post-2030. What anti-wind farm campaigners see as ammunition for the argument that less windfarms should be consented, the industry itself is seeing as a threat, and reason to push for more capacity – but that capacity is determined by the grid, and therefore. Claim: Scotland is already doing more than its fair share of onshore wind Last year, Scotland, according to RenewablesUK, was operating 63% of the UK's onshore wind capacity. By 2030 Scotland will be producing 20.5GW of power, well over two thirds of the onshore wind generation in the UK, which is set at 27-29GW. As this map shows, Scotland is doing a lot of the heavy lifting when it comes to onshore wind. Partly this is because previously England had a de facto ban on onshore wind developments. But there are, as Morag Watson told me, other factors that feed in to why Scotland, in any case, is getting most of the wind. 'The reason for this is you can only put onshore wind where the wind consistently blows at 7ms or faster and there are chunks of England where that doesn't happen. You cannot build a wind turbine within 800m of someone's home, or with the bigger turbines, within 1km of someone's home. "So if you take a map of the UK and take out everywhere where the wind is less than 7 m/s and then take out everywhere where you're within 800 m of someone's home, and then remove National Parks and national scenic areas, where you also cannot build wind, and again is why you don't see onshore wind predominantly down the west coast an central of Scotland, the only places you can build onshore wind are these parts of Scotland and mid Wales. This is why Scotland does do the heavy lifting on onshore wind.' But, she notes, England is doing most of the heavy lifting on solar. Unsurprisingly, the south of England, where the sun is stronger, is also where there are more solar developments. Why are wind farms so concentrated in the North East and Lanarkshire? Wind farms tend to be where the grid is, so they can connect to them – and hence pattern of distribution across Scotland follows those powerlines. There is very little transmission infrastructure down the west coast of Scotland, which means relatively few turbines there. It's often said that onshore wind developments in rural areas of Scotland are producing electricity for the cities to the south and England. But Morag Watson says, 'What is being built onshore in Scotland, is mostly what Scotland needs.' The overhead powerline system, she points out, is not just about delivering energy to the south, but also about sending off connections along the way to power homes and transport in the areas the lines pass through. Claim: Constraint payments are already costing millions and only going to rise – suggesting there is already too much onshore wind A report published earlier this year by the Renewable Energy Foundation found that wind farm constraints continue to rise, both in total volume and in cost. In 2024 the consumer paid more than £393 million in direct costs to discard 8.3 TWh of wind energy. This was a rise from the previous year's cost of £310 million. "Planning application data," the report said, 'shows that the, in our view, indefensibly high rewards for constraints continue to incentivise wind farm development in areas of the UK that have low demand and weak grid connection, resulting in high constraints. More than 98% of the total constrained volume, it noted, arises from Scottish wind farms. However, by far the biggest constraints wereapplied not to onshore wind, but offshore wind, including Seagreen. 'In particular, the offshore wind farm, Seagreen, whose majority owner is SSE, was alone responsible for 40% of the total volume of constraints. Seagreen is currently unsubsidised but 25% of its capacity has been awarded an as yet unimplemented Contract for Difference (CfD).' The most constrained onshore windfarms were Viking (Shetland), Dorenell (Moray), which is currently proposing an extension which would make the area home to the largest onshore array of turbines, Stronelairg (Fort Augustus), which claims to be on of Scotland's windiest windfarms, Bhlaraidh (Glenmoriston). Of these four, all but Dorenell are owned by SSE Renewables. However, Morag Watson points out that, relative to other impacts on electricity bills, like the fact gas prices set electricity prices 98% of the time in the UK (which has the highest electricity prices in Europe), the cost of curtailment is not that big. 'If you look," she saas, "at the cost of balancing the grid in the average electricity bill, which according to Ofgem is £929, £32 of that is the balancing, just under 3.5% and of that only part of that would be the cost of constraint payments. That's a vanishingly small part of your electricity bill. About £352 of your bill is driven by the wholesale cost of electricity – and that is driven by the gas price. So getting rid of the constraints and getting that gas down would be a really great thing for all of us.' Part of what is driving constraints is the pinch point around what's called the B6 boundary in the grid between Scotland and England, which has a theoretic transfer capability currently of around 6.7 GW. But it isn't the only problem. Arguably the B4 boundary, between the North of Scotland and South of Scotland transmission areas, which has a capacity of only 3.4GW is still more important. A recent blog published by UK Energy Research Centre, written by Professor Keith Bell and Callum MacIver of the University of Strathclyde looked at the 'impact of the role of transmission system availability (or rather unavailability) on rising curtailment costs in Britain'. They noted the importance of the B4 boundary. 'Lots of the wind in Scotland is located in the far North, including all of that new capacity from Seagreen, Viking and Moray East, totalling around 2.5 GW. The B4 boundary is therefore often the primary pinch point on the system.' The blog examines the impact of the failure to as yet build planned grid enhancement, especially the Peterhead to Drax undersea cable, which the system operator originally gave a delivery date of 2023, but is now not due till 2029. 'It seems clear we haven't built out enough North to South transmission capacity quickly enough, and that lies at the root of our current issues… but is there more to the story?' It goes on to point that an additional issue is that 'often, the real-time capacity on the B4 and B6 boundaries is well below the maximum level, often even below 50%.' The authors note also note that even these boundaries are not working to capacity. 'Not only have we, up to now, failed to add a 2 GW link across the congested Scottish boundaries, but B4 spent more than half of 2024 with an additional equivalent scale 2 GW reduction in operating capacity.' The reason for this? 'Ironically,' they write, 'it is due to the implementation of network upgrades'. This illustrates that in a grid undergoing significant works over the coming years, transmission is likely to vary. MacIver also looked at what the effect of additional network capacity across the B4 and B6 boundaries would have been and found that 'even a modest increase' across these boundaries of 500MW could have resulted in 'reduced curtailment costs by as much as 25% from the £1.65bn total in the 15 month period from the start of 2024 to the end of April 2025' and 'a 2000 MW uplift, in line with delivering the Peterhead Eastern Link project to its original schedule of 2023, then a full 73% of the thermal constraint costs could potentially have been avoided'. Overall, therefore, the constraint problem is an argument for more grid enhancement, particularly the development of undersea links, rather than less windfarms.
BBC News
09-06-2025
- BBC News
Controversial Skye to Fort Augustus powerline revamp approved
Controversial plans to upgrade 99 miles (160km) of overhead powerline in the Highlands have been approved by the Scottish Transmission said its line from Ardmore, near Portree on Skye, to Fort Augustus on the shores of Loch Ness was reaching the end of its operational £480m revamp includes burying nine miles (15km) of cable underground to avoid spoiling views of Skye's Cuillin Council objected to the project in 2023 because of concerns about the impact on other landscapes, while campaigners said they were "deeply disappointed" it had now been given the go-ahead. SSEN Transmission said the green light from the Scottish government, known as Section 37 consent, was the last hurdle in the planning process for its Skye Reinforcement project. The existing power line was constructed in three sections between 1956 and Transmission said the new line would have greater capacity and could take power from new renewable director Rob McDonald said: "The Skye Reinforcement project is crucial to maintaining local network reliability and will play an important role in helping the UK achieve its energy security and clean power ambitions."This project and our wider investment programme will also be a major driver of jobs and economic growth locally and across the north of Scotland, bringing substantial opportunities for communities and businesses."The Scottish government said the replacement would lead to an increase in renewable energy provision, and protect the security of electricity supply to about 32,000 homes and businesses. But Skye Wind Farm Information Group said Highland Council's opposition to the revamp should have triggered a public Dr Andrew Robinson said: "Instead, planning consent has been given and the council's objection ignored. "This is a failure of democracy."The group said the project would require new electricity towers, and two "giant" substations at Edinbane and Broadford on said large camps to house construction workers would also be created near Robinson added: "Other options to build a smaller scale line, replacing the existing infrastructure and allowing some extra capacity for smaller-scale, community-owned wind farms were never properly considered."He said the group might look into seeking a judicial review, a legal process where a judge looks at a decision made by a public Council said it would not be appropriate for it to and Islands Conservative MSP Jamie Halcro Johnston accused the Scottish government of "riding roughshod" over local democracy to meet renewables targets. SSEN Transmission said new steel electricity towers would be needed on about 68 miles (110km) of the route between Fort Augustus and poles would carry the line from Edinbane to Transmission - which is responsible for the electricity network in the north of Scotland - said an overhead line at Kylerhea in Skye, to the mainland would be replaced and closely follow the route of the existing overhead at Broadford and Edinbane in Skye would be Cuillins are one of the best-known mountain landscapes in Cuillin Ridge is described in climbing as one of Europe's best mountaineering is seven miles (11km) long and its summits include 11 Munros - which are peaks over 914m (3,000ft).
Scotsman
09-06-2025
- Scotsman
Ministers issue long-awaited decision on powerline upgrade on Scotland's most visited island
Community groups have said they fear the upgrade will attract more windfarm applications. Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Controversial plans to upgrade a powerline stretching across Scotland's most visited island have been given the go ahead. SSEN Transmission, the developers behind the grid infrastructure upgrade, lodged plans to improve the overhead line between Skye and Fort Augustus. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad These were objected to by Highland Council in 2023 and the decision has been sitting on ministers' desks ever since. Controversial overhead line upgrade for Skye consented by ministers after more than two years of decision making | SSEN The Scottish Government confirmed on Monday that SSEN Transmission's plans to replace the 'outdated infrastructure' have now been approved. Community groups on Skye, who have called for a pause on further windfarm developments on Skye, said they were disappointed by the move. Residents have argued it could be seen as 'a presumption from the Scottish Government that all the windfarms proposed for Skye will be built.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad There are currently some nine new windfarm developments for the island that have either been approved, are in planning or to waiting to be extended or repowered, including one which is due to go under inquiry later this month. SSEN insisted the existing, single circuit overhead line is fast reaching the end of its operational life, with its replacement 'critical' to maintaining network reliability and security of supply for homes and businesses in Skye and along the line's route, and in the Western Isles, which is currently supplied by two subsea electricity distribution cables. The company said the power line is currently 'operating at its capacity limit, preventing the connection of new renewable electricity in the area' and that its replacement will have a greater capacity for new renewable electricity generation. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Dr Andrew Robinson, a spokesperson for the Skye Wind Farm Information Group (SWIG), which has over one thousand members, said: 'We are deeply disappointed to learn that the Scottish Government have today granted planning permission for the Skye Reinforcement Overhead Line. 'The Highland Council objected to the plans in November 2023. As the local planning authority, such an objection would normally trigger a public inquiry, but, instead planning consent has been given and the council's objection ignored. 'This is a failure of democracy. 'The power line brings with it pylons, quarries, trenches and giant substations at Edinbane and Broadford. The two workers camps proposed either side of Broadford village, housing up to 800 workers are only needed to build the power line and the substations. 'These should have been included in the original planning paperwork for the OHL but instead have been salami sliced into separate applications.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The group has argued SSEN's upgrade to the current infrastructure 'will be much larger, at a size only necessary to take the electricity from all the wind farms proposed for Skye.' Dr Robinson added: 'Other options to build a smaller scale line, replacing the existing infrastructure and allowing some extra capacity for smaller scale community owned wind farms were never properly considered.' Industry bosses have long spoken about their frustrations with the Scottish Government's delays when consenting on projects, including the powerline upgrade. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Earlier this year, Scottish ministers committed to a new 52-week decision making period on priority applications for transmission infrastructure. Rob McDonald, managing director of SSEN Transmission, welcomed the Scottish Government's decision for Skye after what has been about a two hour wait for the company. He said: 'We trust that the Scottish Government's new guidance, setting out a 52-week determination period, will see future projects progress in line with the acceleration needed to achieve the country's clean power mission. "As we now move to the delivery phase of the project, we are committed to working constructively with local communities and businesses to minimise and mitigate construction impacts, alongside maximising the economic, infrastructure and job opportunities this investment will bring." Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Highlands and Islands MSP Jamie Halcro Johnston said the move showed a decision made by the council, who local communities elected, was 'overruled by Scottish Government officials in Edinburgh.' The Conservative politicians said: 'This is a story repeated across the Highlands and Islands where, time and time again, local democracy is ridden roughshod over and all just to meet SNP renewables targets. 'It is part of a concerning pattern of centralised decision-making that suits the government in Edinburgh and large energy companies, but which sidelines local communities. 'Highland Council's rejection of the project last year reflected the very real concerns of those living in the affected areas.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad A Scottish Government spokesperson said: 'This project will replace outdated infrastructure to ensure security of energy supply to the residents of Skye and the Western Isles, and increase provision of renewable energy to the system.
