Beauly-Denny work to start this year but final costs are still unknown

Published on Wednesday 3 February 2010 21:49

WORK to prepare the way for the controversial Beauly to Denny power line will begin later this year in the hope it will be completed within four years.

• The new line will replace existing pylons with much larger structures

Energy minister Jim Mather last month approved the 350million proposal for a 400kV overhead line to replace an existing 132kV line, despite widespread opposition.

At the time, Mr Mather imposed conditions aimed at protecting the landscape including five "wirescape rationalisation" schemes at Stirling, Cairngorms National Park, Balblair and Errochty in the Highlands and Muthill in Perthshire.

The work, said to cost "tens of millions of pounds", will involve removing or improving 53 miles (86km) of ancillary lines, pylons and poles.

Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission Ltd (SHETL), a subsidiary of SSE (Scottish & Southern Energy), one of the power companies behind the project, said yesterday it has now completed its initial analysis of the conditions and should be able to start preliminary work this year. It said a further four summers were required to complete the line and costings will be referred back for approval to regulator Ofgem.

Three more contentious mitigation schemes to further reduce the impact of the line – in the Stirling area, at Glenside farm near Plean and at Auchilhanzie House near Crieff, are yet to be finalised.

However, the power companies indicated it is unlikely cables will be put underground as demanded by campaigners.

Colin Hood, SSE's chief operating officer, said: "In granting consent for a new overhead line between Beauly and Denny, Scottish ministers imposed very substantial conditions.

"While the new line, like its predecessor, will be overhead, these conditions mean there will be a net reduction of over 100km (62 miles) of pylon lines in Highland Scotland as a result of the upgrade. The conditions will require significant resources and will cost tens of millions of pounds.

"We are aiming to make good progress in satisfying Scottish ministers with regard to them, we have already started consulting with key stakeholders and we are planning to start preliminary construction works this year."

Helen McDade, head of policy at the conservation group, John Muir Trust, likened the line to the Scottish Parliament . "A key question is the cost," she said. "We have always felt this was deliberately underestimated to make Beauly-Denny the line that went ahead. Now the costs will go up in the way the cost of the Scottish Parliament went up."

She said it was also odd SSE had announced the work on the wirescape projects but had not decided other mitigation measures. "They have had time to look at the conditions but there is no mention of the most contentious," she said. The Scottish Government says the line is crucial for renewables, but campaigners fear the 600 pylons, some over 200ft high, will ruin scenic landscapes.