Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) Transmission has announced £10 billion of investment to support offshore wind in Scotland.
The investment will see the firm connecting 11 GW of ScotWind offshore wind projects to the mainland.
The group looks to bring a transmission network to the north of Scotland as part of its ‘Pathway to 2030 programme’, a move that it says will power more than ten million homes in the UK and support 20,000 UK jobs, 9,000 of which will be in Scotland.
The projects include several new onshore reinforcements and subsea links and are part of a major upgrade of the electricity transmission network across Britain that is required to meet UK and Scottish Government climate change and energy security targets.
© Supplied by Orsted“SSEN Transmission’s Pathway to 2030 programme is a significant investment into the future of Scotland and the rest of the United Kingdom,” said UK minister for energy security and net zero, Graham Stuart.
“This is a £6.2 billion economic boost for the UK which will deliver long-term and well-paid jobs whilst helping Britain achieve home grown energy security and an electricity network fit for the future.”
Analysis from BiGGAR Economics found that the SSEN Transmission programme will support thousands of green jobs and that £2.5 billion will go into the Scottish economy as a result.
In 2022 the company made 400 jobs in Scotland and it says a further 500 will be made this year.
These 900 roles will include technical jobs at all levels to help facilitate some of the major development projects in the pipeline for the business, as well as project management roles and teams to help with customer and stakeholder engagement.
Scotland, Energy Secretary Neil Gray said: “This report highlights the significant opportunities that such investment in our grid infrastructure will bring for our workforce, our supply chain, and our regional and national economies.
“I look forward to the SSEN Transmission Pathway to 2030 Programme progressing at pace to help realise the ambition set out in our draft Energy Strategy and deliver a fair and just energy transition in what is a decisive decade for action.”
Managing director of SSEN Transmission, Rob McDonald, added: “The development and delivery of our Pathway to 2030 programme is critical to enable the deployment of homegrown and affordable, low carbon power, with this £10bn investment in grid arguably the most important enabler to securing Scotland’s the UK’s future energy security and net zero ambitions.
“These investments will unleash the economic potential of the north of Scotland, supporting thousands of highly skilled jobs and delivering significant economic growth across the economy.”
