Plans in for new electrical substation near Sullom Voe Terminal
PLANS have been lodged for a new electricity substation near Sullom Voe Terminal in Shetland’s North Mainland.
It forms part of SSEN Distribution’s North Shetland Reinforcement Project, which includes new underground cabling to the terminal.
A planning application for the substation includes changing the use of land from agricultural to industrial.
The plans consist of a switch room, two reactors, fencing, associated storage, parking and access.
A supporting letter said the site was originally formed as a laydown/storage facility during the construction of the Shetland Gas Plant.
It continues to be used for storing farming items like baled silage and equipment.
The letter says the proposal is to erect a 33kV switch room to house equipment, with a floorspace of 116 square metres.
Two reactors would be located to the west of the substation, with a new compound built to house them.
It is anticipated that the construction phase will take 12 months and could provide 15 jobs.
During this phase it is expected there will be approximately 40 to 50 articulated deliveries to the site.
Once operational, traffic movement will be limited to maintenance and work vehicles. It is expected there will be around six vehicles on site at one time.
The supporting letter added: “The proposed development is required as part of a major infrastructure upgrade scheme, designed to enhance the electricity distribution network in the Shetland Islands.
“This essential upgrade would increase network capacity for future development in support of the uptake of low carbon technologies, as well as helping to improve the reliability and security of the power supply for communities across the islands.”
Details of the wider North Shetland Reinforcement Project was revealed by SSEN last month.
It will allow Sullom Voe Terminal to connect to the grid for the first time, by the end of 2026 or early 2027.
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This means the terminal’s on-site, gas-fired power station, Shetland’s largest single polluter, will be able to be decommissioned.
Two 43-kilometre long underground cables will be laid between the Gremista grid supply point – currently under construction in Lerwick – and the oil terminal.
The project will also make power supply to the north of Shetland more reliable.
The underground cable will not replace the overhead trunk line, but it is designed to add resilience to the network should overhead lines fail as they have done previously in poor weather conditions.
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