SSEN Transmission has reached a major milestone in the delivery of its Spittal to Peterhead subsea cable link project in Scotland, with the main construction compounds at both the northern and southern ends of the route now fully established and operational.
Located at Bower Quarry near Halkirk in Caithness and Blackhills near Peterhead, the sites will serve as the primary bases for the onshore cable installation works, supporting construction activity along the route in the months ahead.
Around 50 staff are currently based at the Bower Quarry facility, representing organisations including SSEN Transmission, principal contractor NKT and Caithness-based contractor John Gunn and Sons.
In the south, 23 permanent staff from SSEN Transmission, NKT and Aberdeenshire-based contractor Nicol of Skene are now based at the Blackhills site. Local workers will continue to be employed across both sites as the project progresses, while the opportunities created by the project are helping local contractors grow their workforces.
The project will create a 166 km, 2 GW HVDC (high voltage direct current) subsea cable link between Sinclair’s Bay in Caithness and Rattray Head near Peterhead, which will connect into the new Banniskirk Hub in Caithness and Netherton Hub near Peterhead in Aberdeenshire.
The milestone comes as horizontal directional drilling (HDD) activities continue at Rattray Head, where a 1.7 km drill is being constructed, creating one of the UK’s longest power cable landfall connections. The technique enables the cable to be installed in pipes beneath the coastline, minimising impacts on the local environment and surrounding area. Work at Rattray Head is expected to progress over the next 12 months, while similar HDD activities at Sinclair’s Bay are scheduled to begin in late 2027.
