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Balfour Beatty awarded £47m Scottish overhead line and cabling works

Balfour Beatty has been awarded two contracts worth £47m for the Fort Augustus to Fort William 132kV transmission reinforcement project, with work due to start in the coming months.

The contracts have been awarded by Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission plc, part of Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) through the existing F2 Overhead Line General Works Framework and the 132kV Underground Cable Works Framework. The reinforcement is required to enable the connection of renewable generation located in the north of Skye and will also improve the resilience of the local transmission network.

The first contract worth £44m is for the overhead line works and will involve the design, supply and installation of a new conductor system as well as structural upgrade works. The second contract worth £3m is for the underground cabling works and will include the design, supply and installation of cable systems required to reconfigure the network as part of the overhead line reinforcement programme.

As a strategic partner Balfour Beatty has been supporting SSEN through the development stages of the project since March 2017. Balfour Beatty will be deploying the innovative composite core Monte Carlo conductor system, providing SSEN with twice the power capacity of the current steel core conductor.

Andy Smith, operations director for Balfour Beatty’s power transmission and distribution business in Scotland, said: “These two contracts build on Balfour Beatty’s long-standing relationship with SSEN and demonstrate our ability to deploy innovative solutions and deliver challenging projects to exacting safety standards. We are delighted to have been selected to support SSEN in the reinforcement of this critical transmission infrastructure.”

Overhead line alignment was developed following consultation with the community, landowners and statutory authorities last September and was presented at a series of events in Fort Augustus, Invergarry, Glenelg, Kyleakin and Dunvegan between 7 and 15 November.

The project is due to be completed in 2020 and at its peak will employ a workforce of around 110 people including a number of graduates, trainees and locally employed staff and contractors.

If you would like to contact Ryan Tute about this, or any other story, please email rtute@infrastructure-intelligence.com.