What is the Skye Reinforcement Local Fund?
The Skye Reinforcement Project will replace the existing overhead line between Fort Augustus and Skye. As part of the project, substations at Edinbane and Broadford will be extended and upgrade work on the substation at Fort Augustus will also be carried out.
The Skye Reinforcement Local Fund is aimed specifically at communities along the project route, including all the community council areas in Skye & Raasay, Glenelg & Arnisdale, Glengarry and Fort Augustus & Glenmoriston.
This fund will be made up of community benefit funding associated with the infrastructure of the projects listed below.
What is the fund value?
The fund value, as per the UK Government's Guidance on Community Funds for Transmission Infrastructure is made up of community benefit funding associated with the infrastructure of the following projects:
- Broadford to Edinbane Overhead Line
- Invergarry to Quioch Switching Station Overhead Line
- Edinbane Substation extension
- Broadford Substation extension
- Fort Augustus Substation upgrade
The current total lifetime value of the Skye Reinforcement Local Fund will therefore be £5,455,000. This fund is for communities close to the whole project line. As per SSEN Transmission’s fund delivery approach, the remaining funding associated with these projects will be allocated to the Transmission Regional Community Fund to which the communities along the route can also apply.
Community Engagement
It is important to us that our local funds are designed in collaboration with the communities within that local area, ensuring that the funding is distributed to have the maximum possible impact.
We are pleased to be launching our consultation for the Skye Reinforcement Local Fund in March 2026. We welcome the thoughts and views of all community members who live and work in the community council areas in Skye & Raasay, Glenelg & Arnisdale, Glengarry and Fort Augustus & Glenmoriston. We would especially like to hear from those who are situated close to the infrastructure and from organisations and groups working within these communities.
The aims of this consultation will be to define:
- The area of benefit for the fund (i.e. where the funding should be available)
- The priorities for the fund (i.e. what is most important to your community and how should the money be best used)
- The structure of the fund (i.e. how many years the fund should be available and what level of funding should be available for projects)
To learn more about what matters to you, we will be hosting several in-person and online sessions, as well as an online survey. In-person events will be held in Broadford, Dunvegan, Portree, Kyleakin, Glenelg, Glengarry & Fort Augustus. Dates and times will be shared here soon.
The views gathered during these sessions will be used to create the fund proposal, which will be shared with key community representatives (e.g. community councils, development trusts) for feedback before being finalised. The finalised fund details will be published on this website by summer 2026.
If you have any questions or accessibility requirements please email us at community.benefit@sse.com
