North Aberdeenshire Local Fund

On this page:

About the fund 

Who the fund is for

Fund value 

Designed in collaboration with communities

Our commitment to communities 

Stay informed 

Contact us 

About the North Aberdeenshire Local Fund  

We recognise that major infrastructure projects have a direct impact on the communities they pass through. The North Aberdeenshire Local Fund will be designed to make sure communities living near a number of our key infrastructure projects in the North Aberdeenshire area can share in the benefits of this investment.

This includes:

• The new Beauly to Peterhead 400 kV connection which passes through the area, connecting into a new substation at Greens.
• The Greens 400kV Substation is a new 400kV substation to enable connection of the new 400kV overhead line between Beauly, Blackhillock, New Deer and Peterhead.
• The Netherton Hub which will include five new substations to support renewable energy generation and to help move power from the north of Scotland to homes and businesses across the UK. It will also provide space for future energy generation and storage connections.
• The Peterhead Super Grid Transformer Replacement which will update existing equipment to strengthen the electricity network and help secure a reliable power supply for future generations.

The North Aberdeenshire Local Fund will be developed in partnership with the communities closest to our infrastructure. 

Funding will be available when the main construction begins.

Who the fund is for 

The local fund is aimed specifically at communities close to new transmission infrastructure in North Aberdeenshire, and anticipate this including the Community Council areas of:

• Fyvie, Rothienorman, Monquhitter
• Longside and District
• Deer
• Boddam
• Peterhead
• Strathbogie
• Auchterless, Inverkeithny and Fisherford
• Turriff and District
• Mintlaw
• Huntly

Fund value

The current total lifetime value of this local fund is expected to be £8,845,000 subject to planning consents.

The fund value is calculated in line with UK Government guidance, and is made up of community benefit funding associated with the infrastructure of the following projects:

• Beauly to Peterhead 400kV Overhead Line – North Aberdeenshire section only
• Greens (New Deer 2) Substation
• Netherton Hub Substations
• Peterhead Super Grid Transformer Replacement

In addition to this local fund, communities can also apply to our Regional Funds, which support larger‑scale, strategic community projects across the north of Scotland.

Learn more about our approach to funding

Designed in collaboration with communities 

It’s important to us that this fund reflects what matters most to the people it will benefit. 

Help shape this fund 

We will launch our consultation for the North Aberdeenshire Local Fund on 26 October 2026. We welcome thoughts and views of all community members who live and work throughout North Aberdeenshire, particularly those who are situated close to the infrastructure.  

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 the money should 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 community projects)  

To learn more about what matters to you, we are hosting in-person and online sessions on the following dates and times:

We recognise that not everyone will be available to attend one of these sessions – if you are not able to attend, but would still like to share your views, you are welcome to get in touch at community.benefit@sse.com.  

You can also find out more about the fund by reading this Community Briefing Document. 

You can then complete an online survey to share your views. The survey will be open between Monday 26 October and Friday 27 November. 

Share your views 

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 later in the year. 

Our commitment to communities

We’re committed to working with communities to ensure the benefits are shared fairly and deliver real, meaningful outcomes.

Through this fund, we want to support projects that strengthen communities now and leave a positive legacy for the future.

Stay informed

We will keep this page updated as the fund develops, and you will be able to apply for funding here when applications open.

You can also follow us on social media, and sign up to our mailing list to receive key updates on this fund, and for other key funding updates.

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