Cable supply deal secured for Scottish HVDC transmission

NKT will proceed with the initial works on projects connecting Lewis on the Western Isles to Beauly on the Scottish mainland, and Spittal in Caithness to Peterhead in Aberdeenshire.

SSEN Transmission last July announced NKT as its preferred 525kV HVDC cable supplier for the projects.

SSEN Transmission’s £20 billion (€23.8 billion) infrastructure development programme will deliver major upgrades to the electricity transmission network in the north of Scotland, enabling the connection and transport of onshore and offshore wind power around Great Britain.

The Western Isles connection project will see the installation of 81km of subsea cables and a further 80km of underground cables between the HVDC site on Lewis and the corresponding HVDC site at Fanellan on the mainland. The Spittal to Peterhead connection comprises a 150km subsea cable. 

Both projects will use 525kV HVDC cable with bi-pole design due to the long conductor lengths. An additional dedicated metallic return (DMR) cable will be installed on the Spittal to Peterhead connection. 

Land cable sections and new associated HVDC converter stations will also be required.