Scotland Awards Largest Grid Project to ABB

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--The largest grid investment project in northern Scotland has been awarded to Swiss engineering company ABB Limited (NYSE:ABB) (Zurich, Switzerland) in a deal worth 623 million euros ($800 million).

The contract was awarded by Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission (SHE Transmission), part of Scottish energy major SSE plc (Perth, Scotland), as part of what the company calls "the largest investment in north Scotland's electricity network since the hydro development era of the 1950s." The Caithness-Moray high-voltage, direct-current (HVDC) power transmission link will connect the electricity grid on either side of the Moray Firth in northern Scotland. The project will be completed in 2018.

ABB will design, engineer, supply and commission two 320-kilovolt (kV) land-based high-voltage, direct-current HVDC light converter stations, one rated at 1,200 megawatts (MW) at Blackhillock in Moray, and another rated at 800 MW, located at Spittal in Caithness. It includes submarine and underground cables covering a total transmission length of nearly 160 kilometers (km). The link will strengthen the existing grid and allow the region to harness the large rollout of offshore windfarms and other renewable projects in nearby Scottish waters.

SHE Transmission said that about 1,200 MW of wind, wave and tidal energy are scheduled to be connected--enough to provide electricity for two million homes. SHE is also reinforcing the onshore transmission network between Dounreay and Mybster in the north and between Loch Buidhe and Beauly further south.

"We are pleased to support this major transmission project that will enable integration of a significant amount of renewable energy into the grid and supply clean, emission-free electricity to millions of people," said Claudio Facchin, head of ABB's Power Systems division.

The Caithness-Moray link was given the thumbs up in July by the U.K.'s national regulatory authority, Ofgem (Office of Gas and Electricity Markets).

Mark Mathieson, managing director, networks, said at the time: "Ofgem has undertaken detailed and extensive consultations on this project in order to ensure the right project is delivered at the right time to minimize electricity grid constraints without incurring unnecessary costs for electricity consumers. I am very pleased that it has been given the green light...so that the benefits it will bring in unlocking renewable sources of energy for decades to come are realized."

Scotland is an extremely active destination for power and energy projects, in particular renewable energy projects. Industrial Info is tracking 390 power projects there with a combined investment value of $72.1 billion. For additional information, see September 18, 2014, article - Independence or Not, Scotland Home to More than $72 Billion in Power Projects.

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