Guest blog: Landowners encouraged to consider land use opportunities with SSEN Transmission
SSEN Transmission's £20 billion investment in grid upgrades, which supports national clean power and energy security goals, has been widely publicised. The infrastructure enhancements to facilitate this will necessitate the expansion of some existing substations, the construction of new ones and the use of land to accommodate this and other strategic network developments.
In addition to infrastructure upgrades, SSEN Transmission maintains its responsibility as the licenced transmission operator to provide new connections to the network. In alignment with the Government’s Clean Power 2030 (CP30) Plan, Ofgem has approved new connection reform proposals designed to streamline the existing connections queue into the network. These reforms have been developed in response to the continued increase in connection applications, with the current connections queue exceeding 750GW—significantly more than what is required for the energy system by 2030 or even 2050.
To aid in the implementation of this ambitious investment program and manage connection demand and reforms, our land team is actively seeking to acquire land adjacent to our existing infrastructure. These acquisitions will facilitate the expansion of current substations and the potential development of new ones, while also ensuring that the capacity of substations can accommodate future energy projects should the landowner choose to pursue them.
These factors present an opportunity for landowners to negotiate land agreements with SSEN Transmission regarding the option to sell land for future network expansion, particularly in areas near to our existing and proposed substations. By engaging in transparent dialogue with us, landowners can explore optimal solutions for the development of their land while benefiting from both current and future land deals and optimising longer term potential for their land.
We invite landowners to engage in discussions about any potential opportunities they may have.
To learn more, contact SSEN Transmission’s Senior Land Manager, Andrew Preston at andrew.preston@sse.com for more information.
The views expressed in this blog are those of SSEN Transmission and do not necessarily reflect the views of Scottish Land & Estates. No liability can be accepted by Scottish Land & Estates or any of its staff for any misstatement in it or omission from it.
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