Scotland: Balfour Beatty awarded £35m wind farms project to connect renewable wind energy to the national grid

Balfour Beatty will be responsible for the electrical transmission network connections to the two new wind farms. The scope of work includes the design and construction of a new substation, refurbishment or alterations of two existing substations, the connection to a fourth substation built by a developer, the design and installation of a new 7.5km 132kV underground cable system, and the refurbishment of 21km of 132kV overhead line. Combined, the two wind farms could power the equivalent of over 90,000 homes.

Main construction works are due to start in April 2016 with the new infrastructure programmed to be delivered in the spring of 2017. At its peak, the project will employ 120 people.

Balfour Beatty offers capability and technical expertise in cabling, overhead lines and substations, providing the range of technical support required to develop all of the solutions for the project. This unique range of capabilities and technical expertise reduces both cost and interface risk, offering a solution that provides value for the generator, network operator and consumer.

The two wind farms will feed renewable energy generated by wind power directly into the national grid network and will contribute towards the 2020 target for 100% of Scotland’s electricity and 11% of Scotland’s heat demand being generated by renewable sources1.

Stephen Donnelly, Project Manager for Balfour Beatty, said: “With a greater demand to connect renewable energy to the Grid, Balfour Beatty is ideally placed to build both the generation connections into the network and the transmission infrastructure. We are focussed on providing solutions to help ensure the future security of renewable energy supply across the UK, reducing carbon emissions and contributing to ‘keeping the lights on’. Utilising our unique ability within the industry of a single-source solution from design to build, we’re able to deliver maximum efficiency, a smooth running project and minimal disruption to the public". 

Keith Inglis, Manager of Major Customer Connection Projects at SHE Transmission, said, “By awarding these contracts to Balfour Beatty we are enabling the next step forward for the connection of renewable energy. These works are being delivered to tight timescales and it is both challenging and exciting that SHE Transmission is introducing a new and innovative overhead line conductor to its network to help enable these connections.”