Energy / More details of Mossy Hill substation released as consultation opens
MORE details have been released about a new energy substation required as part of the proposed Mossy Hill wind farm.
The substation would be required to connect the consented wind farm, which would be located on land between Lerwick and Scalloway, to new electricity grid infrastructure currently being installed in Shetland.
The substation is being proposed for land near to the junction from the A970 to Ladies Drive at the north exit of Lerwick.
Two public consultation events are taking place this week – one in Lerwick at Islesburgh today (Wednesday) between 1pm and 7pm, and another at the Scalloway Hall on Thursday between 9am and 3pm.
Consultation documents are also available online.
They highlight how new grid infrastructure currently being installed by SSEN Transmission from Kergord to Gremista includes 132kV underground cables.
The 12-turbine Mossy Hill wind farm, which is being developed by Statkraft, would connect into one of those cables.
The wind farm would operate at 33kV and the new substation would transform the voltage from 33kV to 132kV.
Statkraft said the new substation would include switchgear and associated protection equipment to “ensure both supplies to customers and the wind farm operate reliably”.
The developer has a grid connection agreement with National Grid ESO, which is the licensed energy system operator for Great Britain. Under this agreement it is required to consent the new substation.
The majority of the new substation would actually be built, owned and maintained by SSEN Transmission and operated by National Grid ESO.
It is expected that the substation will comprise of two main buildings: the larger one for SSEN Transmission and the smaller one for Statkraft.
The SSEN building would contain most of the electrical switchgear to allow Mossy Hill to connect into one of the Kergord to Gremista cables.
The Statkraft building would contain a transformer to step up the voltage from 33kV to 132kV.
There will also be two smaller buildings, a control and welfare building for SSEN and a building for Statkraft which will bring together the cables from the wind turbines.
During construction, each of the two main buildings will have its own dedicated construction compound that will be removed upon completion of the substation.
An environmental assessment would be undertaken as part of the planning process.
A planning application is expected to be submitted later this summer.
Construction on the substation then could take place in 2025 before the work on the wind farm itself gets underway the following year ahead of expected competition in 2028.
Planning consent for Mossy Hill was granted by Shetland councillors in 2019, with the application not needing to go to the Scottish Government because its total generating capacity is below 50MW.
Statkraft is also planning two other wind farms in Shetland – Energy Isles (18 turbines) and Beaw Field (17 turbines), both in Yell.
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