Kinardochy Substation project helps support local community

SSEN Transmission_Foodbank donations from Kinardochy project team were delivered by BAM Nuttall's John Brenan.jpeg

  • Boxes of food and £250 donation to Atholl Centre food bank to help support those most in need this Christmas

  • Materials donated to local sailing club to help spruce up access road and parking spaces

  • Providing ecological expertise with Highland Perthshire Community Land Trust

 

Teams working on SSEN Transmission’s Kinardochy Substation Project have been lending a hand to the local community as the project continues to make further strides forwards.

Teams from SSEN Transmission along with their principal contractor BAM Nuttall have donated boxes of food as well as £250 in Coop gift cards to the local Atholl Centre food bank in Pitlochry which serves as a vital lifeline for families most in need.  The donation will help families most in need this Christmas, with the option to use the gift cards to purchase their own food items, household products and Christmas-themed items themselves directly, helping to provide for people when they need it most. 

While construction of the new substation has been continuing at pace, teams have been working closely with the local community to see where they can help support those close to the project.  Teams had been working to level the site to make way for the new substation, carrying out careful rock breaking work to level an area almost seven hectares in size – the equivalent of almost nine football pitches - to create space for the new substation foundation and platform.  This has involved blasting some of the bedrock in the area, which was then crushed, screened and reutilised to form the substation platform and permanent access road to the site. 

The local Killiecrankie, Fincastle & Tummel Community Council reached out to say they were in need of a helping hand to restore some designated parking spaces on Foss Road as well as the access road to the popular Loch Tummel Sailing Club near Foss.  Around 100 tonnes of stone were delivered to both Loch Tummel Sailing Club and Perth and Kinross Council to use once conditions improve to help make a safe and robust place for members to access the club, as well create up to 43 parking spaces across 30 locations on Foss Road. 

BAM Nuttall has also shared their environmental expertise to help Highland Perthshire Community Land Trust (HPCLT) take stock of local woodland in the area.  Recently, the team supported the Dùn Coillich 20th Anniversary BioBlitz, where willing surveyors record as many species as they can in a single visit to create a snapshot of the variety of life found within the ancient woodland. The event was a great success, and afterwards they assisted in processing the sightings into a final record – with just under 400 species of wildlife counted.

Gary Milne, SSEN Transmission Lead Project Manager said:

“As guests in the area, it’s really important to us that we work with and support the local community wherever we can during the lifetime of this project.

“We are delighted to be able to help Loch Tummel Sailing Club and Perth and Kinross Council, and I’m pleased that the stone will be put to good use to help improve the access roads and parking area to the popular club, as well as create over 40 new parking spaces on nearby Foss Road. 

“We’ve also got a team of experts working across this project across multiple disciplines, so when we heard that Highland Perthshire Community Trust were looking for some environmental input into their local BioBlitz drive, BAM Nuttall was delighted to spare some of their team to help advise and accurately record all of the species, saving a great deal of admin for the volunteer group. 

“Finally – Christmas is such a difficult time for some, and the whole project team wanted to give something back to the community.  The local Atholl Centre foodbank in Pitlochry is such a vital lifeline to families most in need, not just at this time of year, and we hope that our donation from the whole team will help the foodbank to provide some extra items and comforts to people who need it most.”

Jennie Macintyre, Vice Commodore at Loch Tummel Sailing Club, said:

“We would like to say a big thank you to SSEN Transmission for donating stone from the site at Kinardochy to enable us to resurface the road and carpark at Loch Tummel Sailing Club. The club here at nearby Foss is enjoyed by many families and encourages the enjoyment of water sports and sailing within our small rural community, as well as hosting many events which attract people Scotland-wide and beyond.”

The new Kinardochy substation, located around three miles from Tummel Bridge, will play a critical role in ensuring voltage limits on the transmission network remain stable and power flows can be efficiently managed, allowing for the connection of new renewable generation to the grid and helping to enable the transition to net zero emissions.   Construction began in April this year and teams have so far completed the foundation works and making great progress with the installation of the main substation building which will house the substation infrastructure.   The project is on track to be completed by September 2024.

To find out more about the project visit: https://www.ssen-transmission.co.uk/projects/project-map/kinardochy-substation/