The early contractor involvement work forms part of Scottish & Southern Electricity Networks’ £10bn transmission upgrade programme, Pathway to 2030, to which Balfour Beatty was one of 12 contractors appointed in August 2023.
The first phase of works will see Balfour Beatty work on nine projects:
- new 400kV Beauly to Blackhillock overhead line
- new 400kV Blackhillock to Peterhead overhead line
- new 400kV Fetteresso to Tealing overhead line
- upgrade of the Tealing to Alyth overhead line to 400kV operation
- upgrade of the Tealing to Westfield overhead line to 400kV operation
- construction of a new 400kV substation near Peterhead
- construction of a new 132kV substation near Peterhead
- construction of a new 400kV substation near Braco
- extension of the New Deer substation and 400kV cable connections to the New Deer 2 substation.
During this initial phase of works, Balfour Beatty will support SSEN Transmission to identify and resolve construction challenges, streamline the planning process, advise on the best use of materials, plan the phasing of work and assess scope for offsite prefabrication.
Steve Tarr, Balfour Beatty’s chief executive for transport, energy and power major projects, said: “As the largest power transmission contractor in the UK, we have a key role to play in realising the UK and Scottish governments’ ambitious renewable energy targets.
“This early-stage collaboration is incredibly exciting for all of us at Balfour Beatty, as it will allow us to bring our knowledge, built and fostered over 100 years, to the fore of these ambitious schemes to drive efficiencies and speed up the construction programme.”
Main construction is expected to start in 2026, with energisation of all nine projects expected by 2030.
Construction contracts for these nine projects are expected to be awarded from the end of 2025 into 2026.
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