SSEN Transmission announce new Dalchork near Lairg Substation is now operational
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A PROJECT to install a new electricity substation north of Lairg and overhead lines to connect it to Loch Buidhe Substation has been completed.
SSEN Transmission along with contractors Balfour Beatty and Wood Group have been working on the project since 2019 to build the new transmission infrastructure, which has been developed to facilitate the connection of new renewable energy generation in the area.
The work includes the construction of a new 132kV substation at Dalchork, approximately 3km north of Lairg, and the replacement of cables on top of pylons between Cassley and Lairg.
Approximately 16km of 132kV overhead line was installed from the new substation at Dalchork to the Loch Buidhe Substation near Bonar Bridge.
With all the new assets now in place and operational, the old 132kV overhead lines and 36 pylons between Lairg Grid Supply point (GSP) substation and Shin Substation at Inveran will be decommissioned and removed to reduce the amount of electricity infrastructure in the area.
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The new substation also incorporates the Creag Riabhach wind farm overhead line connection, which was completed in 2022.
Around 400,000 tonnes of rock from the site was crushed and reused to create the substation platform and permanent access road.
SSEN Transmission said the new substation has been designed with space available to accommodate any future renewable energy developments in the area, with the platform built to ensure that any additional equipment to be installed at Dalchork can be done so with minimal future works required.
The area around the site has been replanted with native tree species and seeded with local wildflowers
Andy McLaren, SSEN Transmission lead project manager, said: “Completing the full package of works at Dalchork Substation and the overhead line between Lairg and Loch Buidhe is a huge achievement, with the teams working through some particularly challenging weather conditions, difficult terrain and the early effects of the COVID pandemic.
“It has been a fantastic team effort and I would like to thank the SSEN Transmission project team and our contract partners Balfour Beatty and Wood Group for all their hard work and dedication in delivering the project safely and to the highest standard.
“As a project team we are proud of the role we are playing in delivering a network for net zero.
“From the very start it’s been really important to us that we look after the environment in which we work, with comprehensive environmental management plans in place from the outset and an ecologist on site during critical stages of the main construction.
“We also limited our import and export of materials as much as possible when building the new substation, which not only reduced our emissions from HGVs but also ensured that we reused as much rock and topsoil material from the site as possible.
“With the final stages of removal of the old transmission line between the Lairg and Shin substations now nearing completion, we would like to thank the communities and landowners along the route for their support and continued patience throughout the construction period, without which the project and its role in connecting new renewable energy in this area would not have been possible.”
