Balfour Beatty secures first phase of £690m grid expansion

Balfour Beatty has been selected to deliver the first phase of a major piece of electricity network infrastructure, to supply some of the remotest parts of Scotland. 

The Skye 132kV Reinforcement Project, valued at £690 million, seeks to improve the supply to thousands of homes and businesses across the Hebrides and West Highlands. 

Working for Scottish and Southern Electricity Network (SSEN) Transmission, the detailed design and development phase, valued at £32 million, will see Balfour provide technical solutions for a new 137 km double circuit overhead line between substations at Fort Augustus and Edinbane. 

The contractor will also help deliver new sealing end compounds to link the overhead line to the underground network, joining the Isle of Skye and Western Isles to mainland Scotland. 

Balfour plans to deploy its Environmental & Sustainability division to manage ecological and environmental concerns, from peat management to wildlife translocation. 

Subject to planning approval, the full construction contract award is expected later in the year, with main construction work expected to begin in early 2025. 

At peak construction, Balfour will employ 650 people including 32 apprentices and graduates. 

This latest award follows the appointment to SSEN Transmission’s Accelerated Strategic Transmission Investment (ASTI) framework last year, for which Balfour has started detailed development and design.  

Paul Higginbotham, SSEN Transmission’s deputy project director for the scheme, said: “We’re pleased to strengthen our relationship with Balfour Beatty as a supply chain partner for the Skye 132kV Reinforcement Project, helping us deliver security of supply to homes and businesses along its route from Skye to Fort Augustus, as well as to the Western Isles.”  

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