In what they are calling a ground-breaking achievement for clean energy in the UK, SSE has announced connection of the Shetland Islands to the GB electricity grid for the first time.
According to the Scottish energy company, the milestone comes with the completion of two major projects, including a 260km subsea transmission link between the islands and the mainland.
The subsea cable, an HVDC link, will transport electricity between the Shetland Islands and the GB mainland grid for the first time.
The cable was installed by SSEN Transmission in three campaigns, using specialist cable-laying vessel NKT Victoria, connecting a new converter station at Kergord in Shetland to a switching station at Noss Head on the Scottish mainland.
The second of the two projects is completion of the Viking Wind Farm, which is set to become the UK’s most productive onshore wind farm. Developed by SSE Renewables, the wind farm features 103 Vestas turbines, has an installed capacity of 443MW and is expected to produce around 1.8TWh of renewable electricity annually.
The completion of the Viking Wind Farm and the subsea transmission link represents a £1 billion ($1.3 billion) investment by SSE.
Commenting in a release was first minister of Scotland, John Swinney: “The completion of these projects is a significant step in unlocking the green energy potential of the Shetland islands.
“These developments will not only aid us in our efforts to decarbonise our energy system, but help to stimulate sustainable economic growth in the local area.”
Added Alistair Phillips-Davies, SSE chief executive: “Delivery of both the Viking Wind Farm and Shetland HVDC Transmission link are big engineering achievements and together represent a major milestone on the UK’s path to a clean energy system.”
“Shetland and the wider North Sea have long supported the country’s energy security and now they are playing a significant role in decarbonising our power system,” said Phillips-Davies.
“But it has taken nearly two decades for these projects to move from concept to completion and if we are serious about delivering clean power by 2030 – less than 2,000 days away – we need to make it much easier and faster to build this kind of mission-critical infrastructure.”
