Overview
Status: Early Development
Coachford Substation Update
Following detailed ground investigation works which revealed technical challenges at the site, we will no longer be proceeding with the construction of the proposed substation at Coachford as part of the Beauly to Peterhead 400kV overhead line project. The results of our ground investigation work created an opportunity to reassess how, when and where the objectives of Coachford could be delivered, taking future development opportunities in the area into consideration.
Coachford was identified as one of four substations proposed along the line’s route, to support the transmission of renewable electricity as part of the project. Following the decision to remove the substation from the Beauly to Peterhead project, we will now start exploring alternative options to deliver the initial needs of Coachford - informed by community feedback and development insights gathered so far – at a new site.
What does this mean for the Beauly to Peterhead 400kV?
The Beauly to Peterhead 400kV overhead line project will now comprise three new substations rather than four, alongside the overhead line infrastructure, and still fully deliver the power transmission and grid connectivity requirements identified under our Pathway to 2030 projects.
We will shortly begin engaging with our stakeholders to explain these changes. The project team will be reaching out to local communities, landowners, and developers in the area to provide detailed updates regarding the revised scope of the project and what it means for them.
This will include localised public engagement events relating to the changes in this section in Keith and Cairnie, the details of which will be shared soon.
Register for project updates here.
SSEN Transmission thanks you for your engagement at our recent series of public consultation events
Following the publication of the Alignment Selection Report on Consultation, we held a series of public consultation feedback events across the project route from 17 February until 6 March 2025. These events conclude the Pre-Application Consultation (PAC) process for the consent application that we aim to submit for the Proposed Development to the Energy Consents Unit of the Scottish Government in Spring 2025. The application will be submitted in line with the requirements of section 37 of the Electricity Act 1989.
During the events we shared our Proposed Alignment of the overhead line, including details on how this was developed. This was presented on maps and visualisations with handouts also available. Digital versions are also still available to view on our project webpage. The feedback period for this series of events closed on 21 March 2025.
Our Environmental Consultants, WSP, have updated the project story map for the upcoming engagement events. The story map is a comprehensive overview of the project where you can view maps of the Proposed Alignment alongside the environmental and engineering constraints.
Further documents relating to our most recent and previous engagement events can be found in the documents tab of this project page.
3D Model
We have a 3D model which allows users to view the overhead line from view points across the project route.