Community engagement on our Corran Narrows subsea cable project

One of the ways we can be a good neighbour is to ensure that our communications are on point – before, during and after the work starts in earnest.

A great example of engaging communication can be found on one of the projects recently completed by our Subsea Cable team – the Corran Narrows project started in 2021 and has seen three new cables installed under Loch Linnhe and 6km of overhead line replaced with underground cables.

The subsea cable route began at Bunree, behind the Corran Bunkhouse, and ran approximately 15 metres beneath Loch Linnhe before emerging on the opposite shore behind the Ardgour Lighthouse. 

And while the teams worked hard out on site, there was also a regular communications and engagement programme, across local schools, community councils and customer visits.

The school visits in particular were incredibly successful - as well as helping the local pupils learn more about the work that was being carried out on their doorsteps, the presentations and conversations with SSEN’s teams also provided any potential engineers of the future a first-hand view into what goes on behind the scenes at a major engineering project.

Mel Chisholm, Lead Project Manager for the Corran Narrows works, said:

“This project is going to make a tremendous difference to all of the homes and businesses across the Ardnamurchan Peninsula, boosting the reliability and resilience of everyone’s electricity supplies not just now, but for many years to come. 

“Being a good neighbour is a key part of all our projects. The feedback and positivity we’ve experienced when engaging on this one – be that with the schools, community councils or local businesses - has meant so much to our teams on the ground, as everyone has really enjoyed sharing information on the work itself, meeting the local communities and hopefully inspiring some of the pupils to consider a career in the electricity industry when they leave school.”

Now that our new cable is energised and powering communities across the Ardnamurchan Peninsula, we visited the area to hear their thoughts on the project itself, as well as our engagement and communications activities.