SSEN pledges €1 billion to plug in remote Scottish islands

SSEN owns and operates almost 450km of submarine cables, delivering power to almost 60 of the islands.

Fifteen of the 60 islands belong to Shetland, which is not even connected to the main UK electricity network and relies entirely on local generated power, which is supplied mainly by Lerwick Power Station (diesel fired, supplies 50%); Sullom Voe Power Station (gas fired, supplies 30%) and a number of small independent generators (20%).

The islands will be connected to mainland Britain via a new HVDC cable and onshore 132kV network currently under construction by SSEN.

Following SSEN’s largest single-year programme ever last year, when £38 million was spent on upgrades to the subsea network, five contractors have been named to carry out the new works over five years with a three-year extension option.

“Subsea connections are becoming ever-more important as Scotland’s island communities seek to invest in EV charging, heat pumps, and the decarbonisation of their industries,” said Kevin Galbraith, SSEN Distribution’s Subsea Project director.

“In addition to providing the networks fit for supporting this growth in the use of clean power, these framework agreements will also underpin the ambitions of islanders to generate, store, and export more renewable energy.”

The companies are:

• Briggs Marine – UK based, specialising in marine and environmental services, including vessel charter, port and marine operations, subsea cable installation and maintenance and offshore support for the renewables and utilities sectors
• DOF Subsea – Based in Norway, DOF Subsea delivers integrated subsea services to the offshore oil and gas and renewable energy industries, offering project management, engineering, construction, installation, inspection, maintenance and repair services
• Enshore Subsea –Enshore Subsea, based in the UK, specialises in subsea cable installation, repair and protection, primarily supporting offshore wind farm and power cable projects across Europe
• Jan De Nul – The Belgian marine contractor is a global offshore and dredging contractor working in marine construction, offshore wind installation, subsea cable laying and large-scale civil and environmental projects.
• N-Sea – Netherlands based, N-Sea provides integrated subsea solutions including survey, inspection, maintenance and repair and construction services for offshore energy infrastructure in oil & gas and renewables markets.

Works completed

Projects already carried out in the remote region include:

• · £38m Mull–Iona, Coll–Tiree and Kilmalieu–Loch a’Choire programme delivering five cables in a single season
• · Shetland–Yell cable replacement incorporating innovative shared fibre broadband infrastructure
• · £28m emergency Skye–Harris replacement in 2021
• · Complex ~£90m Skye–Uist strategic multi-cable replacement targeting 2027/28 commissioning
• · Subsea Loch Broom upgrade within a £14.2m network improvement
• · Orkney–Shapinsay installation, energised in September 2024.