THE north-east took a major step towards linking up to Europe with a power supercable last night.
A consortium of energy firms wants to spend billions of pounds on a 350-mile, 1,400-megawatt interconnector from Peterhead to Norway.
The scheme, which could create more than 100 jobs, has been welcomed as a potential boost to the north-east economy. Local councillor Anne Allan gave the plans a cautious welcome and added: “I would like to think that this will also involve Peterhead Power Station.”
NorthConnect claims its proposal for the subsea electricity line will lead to more stable household bills and encourage greater investment in renewable energy projects on both sides of the North Sea.
Yesterday the developer said it had signed an agreement with the National Grid for a connection at the Buchan port.
A spokesman claimed the cable would “facilitate the development of renewable generation in both regions, as the high penetration of wind generation in UK and hydro-energy in Scandinavia complement each other”.
The scheme is scheduled to be commissioned in 2020.
NorthConnect is jointly owned by Sweden’s Vattenfall, Scottish and Southern Energy and three Norwegian companies – E-CO Energi, Agder Energi and Lyse.
It is estimated that up to 120 construction jobs would be created during the building of a converter station in the Buchan port and laying the subsea cable.
The consortium chose Peterhead as the site for the converter station because of its location near existing and planned onshore and offshore windfarms and marine power developments in the north-east, Caithness, Orkney and Shetland.
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said the interconnector would be the first step towards the integration of Scotland’s electricity network into a European grid.
The SNP government has previously claimedthat Scotland could become the “green powerhouse” of Europe.
Aberdeenshire Council member Anne Allan, who represents Peterhead North, gave the plans a cautious welcome last night but said she wanted to know more before commenting in detail.
“Anything that stabilises household energy bills is a positive and it can only be a good thing for the area if the claims made by NorthConnect are accurate,” said the councillor.
“I would like to think that this will also involve Peterhead Power Station which does not work to its full capacity at this time.
“If it is the case that the electricity supply will be able to adapt to surges in demand then it will be another benefit.”
She added: “I am delighted at the creation of around 120 construction jobs as that will help local people and also boost our economy.”