Overview
Pre-Application Consultation (PAC) events - May 2024
We recently held the second of our statutory pre-application consultation events for our proposed Coachford 400kV substation project, on Tuesday 28 May at Cairnie Memorial Hall, Wednesday 29 May at Stewarts Hall, Huntly and Thursday 30 May at Longmore Community Hall, Keith.
We would like to thank those who took the time to attend our feedback events and discuss our proposals with the project team. Updated information relating to the proposals are also available to download from the 'Documents' tab of this webpage.
Our formal feedback period closed on 11 July. We will however welcome final comments from members of the public, statutory consultees, and other key stakeholders regarding our proposals until we submit our planning application, planned for Autumn 2024.
Click on the video to view a 3D visualisation of the Proposed Coachford 400kV Substation.
About the Project
In order to support the continued growth in onshore and offshore renewables across the north of Scotland, supporting the country's drive towards Net Zero, investment in network infrastructure is needed to connect this renewable power and transport it from source to areas of demand across the country.
Extensive studies have confirmed the need to reinforce the onshore transmission infrastructure between Beauly and Peterhead. To enable these reinforcements, a new 400kV substation is required in Coachford, near Blackhillock, to enable connection of the new 400kV overhead line between Beauly, Blackhillock, New Deer and Peterhead.
Find Out More About Beauly - Blackhillock - New Deer - Peterhead 400kV Connection
This video outlines how the project contributes to our role in delivering Net Zero.
Pathway to 2030
The Pathway to 2030, published by National Grid ESO, the electricity system operator for Great Britain, sets the blueprint for the electricity transmission network infrastructure required to enable the forecasted growth in renewable electricity across Great Britain.
The projects identified within the Pathway to 2030 are critical to delivering the UK and Scottish Government’s offshore wind targets. To deliver these targets, we are investing over £10bn to upgrade the network infrastructure across the north of Scotland as the region plays a leading role in the clean energy transition.
As part of this investment, there is a requirement for a new 400kV substation in Blackhillock.
Stakeholder Engagement
The Coachford 400kV Substation Project is currently in the development stages and is subject to extensive consultation with stakeholders. As this project is closely linked with the 400kV overhead line from Beauly to Peterhead, the project teams will aim to tie in consultation for both projects within each locality.
You can find out more about the Beauly - Blackhillock - New Deer - Peterhead 400kV Connection Project in this video, where Project Manager Catherine Swan and Community Liaison Manager Ryan Davidson describe the approach we are taking to develop our proposals, and the opportunities that are available for stakeholders to feed into the design process.
How we’re embracing artificial intelligence (AI)
We intend to use AI to assist our experienced teams in the analysis of your feedback, so we can categorise key points raised more quickly. You can learn more about how we’re utilising AI on this dedicated web page.
Project Updates
Project updates
Documents
Pre-Application Consultation 2024 - Materials
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Coachford PAC 2 Consultation Booklet - May 24
- Type:
- Date:
- 16 May 2024
- Size:
- 9 MB
This document provides information to our stakeholders about the project and was provided during our pre-application consultations in May 2024.
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Coachford PAC 1 Booklet - Feb 2024
- Type:
- Date:
- 21 February 2024
- Size:
- 4.8 MB
This document provides information to our stakeholders about the project and was provided during our pre-application consultations in March 2024.
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Coachford Landscape Proposals Plan.
- Type:
- Date:
- 15 February 2024
- Size:
- 7 MB
This map provides information to our stakeholders about the Coachford Landscape Proposals Plan, produced 16 January 2024.
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Coachford Red Line Boundary
- Type:
- Date:
- 15 February 2024
- Size:
- 4 MB
This map provides information to our stakeholders about the Proposal of Application Notice (PAN) red line boundary for the site, produced 26 January 2024.
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Coachford Landscape Proposals Plan.
- Type:
- Date:
- 15 February 2024
- Size:
- 5.4 MB
This map provides information to our stakeholders about the Coachford Substation Site Layout, produced 19 December 2023.
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Coachford PAC 1 Postcard
- Type:
- Date:
- 15 February 2024
- Size:
- 626.6 KB
This document is the Coachford PAC 1 Postcard invite posted out to properties in 10km radius of substation site and provides information on our consultation events in March 2024.
Report on Consultation
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Summary ROC - Beauly to Peterhead.pdf
- Type:
- Date:
- 01 December 2023
- Size:
- 2.8 MB
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Report on Consultation - Blackhillock 2 400kV Substation.pdf
- Type:
- Date:
- 01 December 2023
- Size:
- 7.1 MB
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RoC - Blackhillock 2 - Figure 2 - Proposed Site 4.pdf
- Type:
- Date:
- 01 December 2023
- Size:
- 9.8 MB
Pathway to 2030 Projects - Additional Information
March 2023 Consultation Materials
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Consultation Event Postcard Invite
- Type:
- Date:
- 06 March 2023
- Size:
- 559.6 KB
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New Blackhillock 2 400kV Substation Consultation Booklet
- Type:
- Date:
- 06 March 2023
- Size:
- 5.9 MB
FAQs
Who we are
About the Pathway to 2030 projects
Our approach to routeing and public consultation
Environmental considerations
Communities and landowner considerations
Cost and engineering considerations
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To make use of this function please click on the 3 'A's' button at the bottom left of the website.
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Latest Links
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Report on Consultation
Our Reports on Consultation across our three new overhead line projects and associated substation and convertor station developments have now been published. These reports provide a summary of the extensive feedback received during consultation, how this has been considered and confirmation of which routes and substations are now being taken forward to the next stage of development.
Our Reports on Consultation are now available to download from the Project Documentation tab.
Summary Reports on Consultation are also available for each of the three schemes and can be downloaded below:
- Summary Report on Consultation Spittal to Beauly
- Summary Report on Consultation Beauly to Peterhead
- Summary Report on Consultation Kintore to Tealing
A stakeholder webinar available for all to join will be held in the coming weeks to share the changes informed by the feedback. More information about the forthcoming webinar will be shared on our events page shortly.
In further recognition of community feedback, we will seek to rationalise cumulative infrastructure impacts through the removal and undergrounding of existing transmission lines, where technically practical and appropriate, and subject to all necessary planning consents and landowner agreements.
Work to identify and assess potential sections of existing overhead line where their removal will reduce cumulative impacts is ongoing, with an update expected as part of the next round of public consultation on overhead line alignments and more detailed substation designs in early 2024.
We would once again like to thank all stakeholders who took the time to engage with our early consultation process. We will continue to engage with stakeholders ahead of consulting further with local communities and stakeholders in the new year, as we look to refine our proposals.
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Report on Consultation
Over the course of this year, we have undertaken extensive consultation on plans to upgrade the electricity transmission network across the north of Scotland and have received a considerable amount of feedback from a wide range of stakeholders regarding our proposals.
We recently advised in our next steps for 2030 network developments update that following assessment of consultation feedback and additional options analysis, we would publish our Report on Consultations (RoCs). These reports provide a summary of the feedback received and how it has been considered, which options we will take forward to the next stage of the development process and any changes to options initially consulted on.
It is our intention to publish the RoCs during the week commencing 27 November. All stakeholders signed up for updates on the project will receive a link to the report and we will also issue Summary Reports to help ensure accessibility.
These Report on Consultations mark the completion of the first round of non-statutory consultation, where we sought feedback on the corridor, route, and substation locations. We will be consulting further with local communities and stakeholders in the new year, as we look to refine the projects, therefore we welcome an open channel of communication and would like to reassure all stakeholders that there will be further opportunities to engage on this project.
Our Reports on Consultation and Summary Reports on Consultation are now available to download from the Project Documentation tab. -
SSEN Transmission sets out next steps for Pathway to 2030 network developments
We have announced our next steps for our Pathway to 2030 programme of projects. We would like to thank everyone who has engaged with our teams and kindly taken the time to respond to our consultations.
Full details of the announcement can be found here:
Next steps for Pathway to 2030