A high-voltage subsea power cable to carry renewable vitality from Orkney to mainland Scotland has been approved in principle by regulators.
Power agency SSEN formally requested to lay the cable in 2018, however first had to exhibit to the vitality regulator Ofgem that it will be used.
Orkney granted consent for six new wind farms which helped safe approval.
It’s seen as an vital step in tackling local weather change by harnessing the islands’ plentiful wind useful resource.
The power the wind generators generate may be exported alongside the cable to the Nationwide Grid, Britain’s vitality distribution system.
Orkney Islands Council estimated it could possibly be price £371m to the native financial system over 45 years.
The plan is for an underground cable to take power from the Finstown substation to Warebeth/Billia Croo, west of Stromness, on the Orkney mainland.
This could then join by way of a subsea cable to Dounreay on the Caithness coast, about 40 miles away.
SSEN stated it was a £400m venture that’s anticipated to be full by 2027/28.
The venture means interconnectors carrying electrical energy will run from Scotland’s three largest island teams – Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles.
Between all three hyperlinks, the cables will carry sufficient electrical energy to power greater than 2.5 million houses.
Ofgem gave the go-ahead in 2020 for a link from Shetland and building is underway.
The Western Isles venture is bigger than initially deliberate. SSEN is reassessing the onshore parts it wants.
Orkney’s interconnector is the smallest of the three with a capability of 220 megawatts, sufficient to power 250,000 houses.
The cable from Shetland is nearly thrice greater at 600 megawatts whereas the Western Isles will see an enormous 1.8 gigawatt link.
It is going to be used to carry offshore electrical energy from ScotWind developments in addition to onshore islands’ wind power.
Ofgem stated it was “minded to approve” the Orkney link topic to a brief session. That is anticipated to be a formality.
Rob McDonald, managing director of SSEN Transmission, described the choice as a vastly important milestone in lastly unlocking Orkney’s huge renewable potential.
He stated: “Scotland’s island teams are dwelling to a few of world’s biggest sources of renewable vitality and we’ve got lengthy supported the necessity to present transmission connections to assist unlock their plentiful potential.”
