Huntly substation linked to Shetland subsea cable strongly criticised by residents
Local democracy reporter Kirstie Topp attended an SSEN event over the HVDC 2 project
ANGRY residents have lashed out at plans for a new substation near Huntly, including one family whose farm could be wiped out by the development.
SSEN Transmission is hoping to build the facility and a converter station as part of the proposed Shetland HVDC Link 2 project.
They are needed to enable a second underground electricity transmission connection between Shetland and the mainland.
This would allow renewable energy generated on the islands to be transported to homes and businesses across Shetland as well as Scotland and the rest of the UK.
But for this to happen, a 400kV Alternating Current (AC) substation and High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) converter station would need to be built on the mainland.
SSEN Transmission is also considering possible landfall site in Shetland for the proposed second subsea HVDC cable, including Minn Islesburgh to the west of Mavis Grind, Braewick in Eshaness, Grunnavoe and Toft.
SSEN recently held a public information session at Huntly’s Linden Centre for residents to learn more about the proposal.
Initially there was a list of 14 sites for the Strathbogie Hub but now just two preferred locations remained – one Cruchie and the other at Rivestone near the Avochie Estate.
A furious couple, who wished to remain anonymous, shared their frustrations about the seemingly endless energy applications cropping up across the region.
“It’s fatiguing because it’s like every week there’s something new appearing, they’re completely industrialising the area,” they said.
“SSEN don’t listen, this community stuff is just to tick a box, they don’t really care.
“We live in a lovely area and they’re wrecking it… what I’m seeing happening at the moment breaks my heart.”
Gordon and Stacey Stronach also said that if the proposed substation were to be built at Rivestone their family’s farm, Millburn, would be wiped out.
And a worried Gordon explains that the development would bring an end to generations of farming.
He said: “We’ve been there over 80 years.
“I’m the 4th generation and my son the 5th, all going well, but this just completely wipes that out and finishes us as a farm.”
If SSEN choose to press ahead with the Rivestone site, the Stronach family fears their land will be taken from them through a compulsory purchase order.
And if it is, Gordon warns: “It’s game over for our farm.
“The way that farming is anyway, it’s been on life support for four or five years.
“We’ve all got full-time jobs as well as the farm to prop it up… I know that’s sentimental but that’s what farming is.”
Gordon believes SSEN have been “a bit misleading” as he claimed the maps on display didn’t show the full extent of the development.
“They’ve got little square boxes and you think, ‘oh well, it’s not that bad’.
“But they say the next stage and consultation will have 3D images and it will all be mapped out, they just keep saying we’ll get more information next time.”
The couple said they had heard about the project and knew it was in the pipeline, but had learned about it from everyone except SSEN.
“We’ve been trying to build a house on the land for 10 years and the council keep refusing us.
“They say it impedes on the countryside, it sticks out like a sore thumb and you’d see it for miles – but you’re literally going to see this substation from the moon.”
Project manager Alan Kelly said the project forms part of the UK and Scottish Government’s Clean Power 2030 action plan which is aiming to decarbonise the country’s energy grid.
“Renewable energy is the way we get to net zero,” he said.
“Shetland is a particularly efficient place because of the high wind there so it’s a very good place to build offshore wind farms.
“But Shetland has a particularly low need for electricity, that’s why it needs to come down to mainland Scotland and further into the central belt, and further south as well.”
Kelly explained the project is “an opportunity to create industry on Shetland” while also giving the islands more energy security and better grid flexibility.
The Shetland 2 project will also be the anchor project for Japanese cable supplier Sumitomo’s new £350 million factory in Nigg.
“We’ll be the first cable out of there which is really positive,” he said.
Meanwhile, it will connect to the recently completed Shetland HVDC, a 260km subsea cable linking the islands to the mainland.
Ground investigations at the two preferred sites will get underway shortly and should be completed by the end of the year.
If planning permission is granted, construction would start in 2030 with an aim to have the hub up and running by 2035.
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