FIVE contract partners have been announced to deliver an investment of up to £950 million as part of SSEN Distribution’s programme to renew and upgrade subsea electricity links connecting island communities across Scotland.
Running for an initial five-year period, with the option of an extension for a further three years, SSEN estimates the framework will support over 450 specialised jobs for each year the agreements are in place – meaning well over 3,500 fixed-term roles could be sustained across the overall programme.
The five contract partners are Burntisland-based Briggs Marine; DOF Subsea UK and N-Sea, both of which have bases in Aberdeen; and Enshore Subsea and Jan De Nul. Specific projects will be allocated according to each contract partner’s specialisms and resources.
SSEN explained that the longer-term contracts will help its partners make strategic operational decisions, thus having a positive effect on the jobs and careers they are able to offer in local communities – whilst also providing greater certainty in the supply chain for SSEN itself as it embarks on the biggest phase of network development in its history.
The participation of several framework partners is also tipped to deliver additional benefits. The partners will give more scope to install multiple subsea cables at the same time during the relatively-narrow summer window when weather conditions are more favourable. And there will be a larger pool of contract partners to deploy if an unexpected network fault requires urgent inspection and repair.
In the longer term, upgrades to subsea connections will deliver more resilient and secure electricity connections for island communities.
Gillian Martin MSP, Scottish Government’s cabinet secretary for energy, said, “This welcome investment by SSEN Distribution will help upgrade the subsea network serving Scotland’s islands, improving its resilience and supporting Scotland’s net zero ambitions. It will also support thousands of high-quality green jobs and drive new growth across the local, regional and national economies as part of our net zero transformation.”
Kevin Galbraith, SSEN Distribution’s subsea project director (large capital delivery), added, “Subsea connections are becoming ever-more important as Scotland’s island communities seek to invest in EV charging, heat pumps, and the decarbonisation of their industries. In addition to providing the networks fit for supporting this growth in the use of clean power, these framework agreements will also underpin the ambitions of islanders to generate, store, and export more renewable energy.
“The agreements themselves will ensure delivery of this investment will be rolled out in a seamless, co-ordinated way, and this will provide both customers and supply chains with the certainty they’re looking for. This multi-year investment will also provide greater job security and new opportunities for employment in this growing sector.”
