Substation will play crucial role in transmitting clean, green electricity from Seagreen offshore wind farm

A major milestone has been reached in the ongoing development of the Tealing transmission substation

SSEN Transmission and its principal contractor Siemens BAM have been working since October 2019 to upgrade and extend the existing 275kV substation to increase the capacity of the electricity transmission network and allow the connection of the Seagreen Wind Energy Limited (SWEL) offshore wind farm project, which is cur rently under construction.

The proje ct is part of a significant number of projects on the East Coast of Scotland to strengthen the transmission network in the region, enabling the connection of new renewable generation to the grid and helping to facilitate the transition to net zero emissions.

The Tealing SSEN Transmission substation project involved dismantling the old concrete structures to make way for the installation of over 240 new concrete bases and associated equipment, as well as the installation of over 9000m of cabling and 2 000m of busbar, the metal apparatus used for high voltage power distribution.

As the Tealing substation is a key node in the transmission network, the busbar rebuild works had to be completed in sections to allow power flow to be maintained throughout the project’s scheduled work.

This meant each section was demolished, rebuilt, commissioned, reconnected to the existing substation and energised before moving on to the next section.

Teams are now turning to the next phase of work, which involves installing two new Phase Shifting Transformers at Tealing. These will improve the power flow control in the existing overhead lines on the east coast of Scotland.

Alison Hall, SSEN Transmission Lead Project Manager , said: “We are delighted to have successfully completed the energisation of Tealing substation ready for the connection of power from Seagreen offshore wind farm.

“We’re now turning towards the next phase at Tealing which involves installation of new transformers. We’ll continue to keep the local community and stakeholders updated as the project progresses and we thank them for their patience.”