SSEN Transmission has awarded key contracts for a subsea cable project that will connect the Orkney Islands to the Scottish mainland for the first time.
Nexans, RJ McLeod and a Siemens Energy and BAM joint venture will undertake key work on the Orkney-Caithness Link project, with construction set to get underway this month.
The £900 million investment will see the installation of a 200kV high voltage alternating current (HVAC) cable, enabling the connection of up to 200 MW of renewable energy capacity to the national grid.
The link will consist of a new substation at Finstown in Orkney along with close to 2.5 miles of underground cable where it makes landfall at Warebeth.
It will also involve 33 miles of subsea cable, which will connect to a substation at Dounreay in Caithness.
© Supplied by Heriot-WattThe Siemens Energy and BAM joint venture will construct the substations, while RJ McLeod will install the underground cable ducting, including horizontal directional drilling.
Meanwhile, Nexans will manufacture the cable at its production facility in Halden, Norway, and install them on site.
SSEN Transmission deputy project director Ian Clark said the three firms have a “strong track record” of project delivery.
“Early development and initial public consultation on this project started in 2017 and reaching this point – where we’re ready for construction to begin – is a testament to the hard work by the entire team at SSEN Transmission and our supply chain partners,” Clark said.
“We’re now ready to get started with construction work at each end of the link in Finstown and Dounreay and will keep the communities informed as we make progress.”
Highland jobs
RJ McLeod north director Sandy Osborne said the company will build on its experience across Highlands and Islands projects, including the Viking wind farm on Shetland.
“These works will provide us with the opportunity to deliver a boost to the local economy, not only in terms of employment with a local highland contractor, but also in terms of the extensive and valuable local supply chain of goods and services,” Osborne said.
Nexans executive vice president Pascal Radue said transmission links are a “pivotal piece of the sustainable energy puzzle”, delivering electricity from regions with the greatest supply to areas with the greatest demand.
SSEN said with the contracts in place, the Orkney-Caithness project will move into its construction phase with full energisation expected in 2028.
Orkney Islands
In 2021, the local council found the link between Orkney and the mainland could be worth more than £800 annually for each islander over the next 45 years.
The cable link is among several in construction or delivered in Scotland in recent years.
In August, SSEN completed work on the Shetland HVDC link, connecting the Viking Energy wind farm on the island to the Great British grid.
Other ongoing projects include the Western Isles HVDC connector, and the Eastern Green Link 2 “superhighway” between Peterhead and England.
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