EIB in Scottish electricity loan

The EIB (European Investment Bank) has provided a £500 million (€635 million) loan to support a major reinforcement of the electricity transmission network in the north of Scotland.

The reinforcement will help improve connections between wind, wave and tidal renewable energy schemes and the national power network. Once operational, the new transmission link will supply equivalent electricity to meet the needs of around 2 million Scottish residents.

This represents the largest investment in the electricity network in the north of Scotland for 60 years and includes a new 1,200MW subsea cable between Spittal, Caithness and Blackhillock, Moray. The laying of the subsea cable and associated onshore infrastructure works are expected to support 600 jobs during the construction phase.

The loan will support nearly £1.2 billion (€1.53 billion) of overall investment in the electricity transmission network in the north of Scotland by Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission, a wholly-owned subsidiary of SSE.