Image for illustrative purposes

SSEN Transmission has secured a $1.2 billion (£1 billion), 12-year syndicated bank facility to fund major electricity transmission upgrades in northern Scotland, supported by a $960 million (£800 million) guarantee from the UK National Wealth Fund.

The loan, arranged with a consortium of banks led by Bank of America and including BBVA, HSBC, JP Morgan, Lloyds, MUFG, NatWest, and Santander, is designated as a green loan. It will finance four key projects: the Orkney Connection, Eastern Green Link 2 (EGL2) subsea high-voltage direct current project, Skye Reinforcement, and the Argyll and Kintyre 275kV strategy.

These initiatives aim to enhance transmission capacity, improve network resilience, and enable electricity transfer from Scotland’s growing renewable generation to high-demand areas in Great Britain. The projects will connect Orkney to the national grid for the first time and strengthen infrastructure serving Skye, Fort Augustus, Argyll, and Kintyre.

EGL2 is set to become a major north-south transmission corridor linking Scotland and England via subsea cables and is considered the largest single investment in the UK transmission system to date.

Barry O’Regan, CFO of SSE, said the facility diversifies funding, supports the timely delivery of projects, and underlines the importance of grid upgrades in achieving the UK’s clean energy and energy security objectives while promoting regional economic growth.

Source: energyvoice.com