SSEN seeks Orkney residents to form a Community Liaison Group
Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) is reaching out to the local communities of Orkney to establish a Community Liaison Group (CLG) to provide regular updates in relation to a future transmission connection between Orkney and the Scottish mainland.
The call comes after the recent consultation events which were attended by over 300 local residents over a number of days in late February and early March. SSEN is establishing the CLG to provide the general public with an additional opportunity to shape the design of the project from the initial planning stage and to ensure the local community is kept fully updated at all stages of the projects development.
SSEN’s Community Liaison Manager for Orkney, Lisa Marchi, said:
“We would like to thank everyone who took the time to attend our consultation events and all those who have subsequently provided formal feedback.
“Throughout the life of our projects, we aim to work positively with local communities and keep people informed about what we are doing. This is particularly important when we are developing a proposal and we want to understand what local people think about our plans.
“The creation of a Community Liaison Group allows us to engage with the wider community on a regular basis, up to and during the construction phase of the project. The valuable local feedback obtained through the Community Liaison Group will ultimately help shape our plans and approach to the development of the project and I would encourage anyone interested in being considered for the Community Liaison Group to get in touch.”
SSEN is looking for two representatives from each of the following community council areas:
• Birsay
• Evie and Rendall
• Firth and Stenness
• Flotta
• Harray
• Graemsay, Hoy and Walls
• Orphir
• Rousay, Egilsay, Wyre and Gairsay
• South Ronaldsay and Burray
• Stromness
To express an interest, please email lisa.marchi@sse.com with the following details:
• Community Council Area (please note they do not need to be a member of the community council)
• Name
• Address
• Telephone number
• Email
Alternatively, applications can be submitted online here.
Lisa will be in the Ayre Hotel, Kirkwall on Wednesday 19th April from 9am to 12pm for those who would prefer to register their interest in person or would like to find out more about the CLG.
The proposed transmission connection is required to accommodate a combination of tidal and onshore wind energy generation projects in Orkney, as well as providing additional capacity to support existing connections on the local distribution network. SSEN’s plans are focused on a cable connection between Caithness and a new substation site which is being sought in the Stenness or Orphir areas. This would be connected to a further central substation site which would need to be identified in the vicinity of Finstown.
A UK Government consultation on the future treatment of non-mainland onshore wind projects closed on 31 January 2017 and confirmation of policy for these generators is expected in the coming months. Any changes in the current contracted position of generators may impact on the design and ultimate need for the proposed reinforcement.
More details on the Orkney project can be found on the project page.