North Sea subsea interconnector among ‘major’ clean energy duo bringing over $165 million to UK archipelago

The Scottish transmission system operator (TSO) SSEN Transmission has revealed an investment of £125 million (close to $165.2 million) as the sum, which the construction of two big green energy projects poured into the local islands’ economy and businesses located in Shetland, also known as the Shetland Islands, an archipelago lying roughly 100 miles off the northeast coast of Scotland, between Orkney, the Faroe Islands, and Norway.

These two clean power projects, which encompass SSEN Transmission’s energization of the 260 km (160 miles), £660 million ($871.9 million) Shetland high voltage direct-current (HVDC) link between Shetland and the GB mainland along with the completion of SSE Renewables’ 103 turbine Viking Wind Farm, both of which have been developed by two subsidiaries of the SSE, are preparing for full commercial operations, which are slated to start in the coming weeks.  

The scale of investment in the Shetland supply chain entails £80 million ($105.7 million) from the building of the 443 MW Viking Wind Farm, anticipated to turn into Britain’s most productive onshore wind farm once fully operational, and £45 million ($59.4 million) related to the subsea interconnector cable, connecting Noss Head in Caithness and Weisdale Voe in Shetland, which is said to be the most remote part of the UK, enabling the archipelago’s first link to the GB electricity grid.  

Alistair Philips-Davies, Chief Executive of SSE, commented: “As we near completion of these two major developments, we would like to thank the many local partners in Shetland who have helped deliver these projects alongside SSE Renewables and SSEN Transmission.  

“Ensuring we maximise economic opportunities for local communities is an important part of the clean energy transition, and we have been privileged to work with a wide range of local businesses through the development and construction of the wind farm and subsea connection.”     

The subsea cable project transported its first power from the Viking Wind Farm on Shetland to the GB mainland in June 2024 before energization efforts could reach full throttle. According to the Scottish TSO, the £125 million investment entails dozens of local businesses and those operating in the islands from large accommodation and transport providers to sole traders.  

John Garriock, Managing Director of Bolts Car Hire, remarked: “The support for our business through the construction of the Viking Wind Farm and Shetland HVDC link has been a vital lifeline, particularly through the covid pandemic when visitor numbers rapidly reduced to Shetland.   

“The projects have provided a predictable and reliable income to our company and staff members over the past few years, and we’ve been able to grow, reinvest and increase our fleet as a result. The projects have supported not only our 26 car-hire employees but the wider company and Bolts’ supply chain of local providers and services.” 

While the Shetland HVDC link supported 250 jobs and the wind farm 400 during their peak construction phases, with 35 full-time permanent roles created to look after the day-to-day operations and maintenance of the wind farm, SSE Renewables also established an index-linked Viking Community Fund, which is anticipated to contribute about £72 million (more than $95.1 million) to the islands’ economy over the lifetime of the wind farm.  

SSEN Transmission confirms that the full commercial operations of the Viking Wind Farm and energization of the Shetland HVDC link are slated to occur in the next few weeks. 

Recently, the TSO selected Denmark’s NKT to deliver power cable systems for two HVDC transmission links in Scotland, known as the 1.8 GW Western Isles and the 2 GW Spittal-Peterhead subsea links.