The Cumming Street and Bilbohall substations deliver power 24/7 to over 6,000 properties, and in addition to the on-site upgrades at both locations, a new underground cable is also being installed between the two sites.
The work on this ten-month project will be carried out by SSEN’s main contractor, OCU.
In addition to making supplies even more reliable, this project is also about boosting network capacity, with SSEN adding more “space” on the local grid to meet the growth in demand for EV chargers and heat pumps; this extra capacity is also key to supporting the expansion of new housing and other developments in the city.
Low-carbon technologies such as EV chargers and heat pumps can potentially help customers to not only reduce their monthly bills, but also cut their emissions. And more network capacity also creates more scope for exporting power from locally-generated renewable sources to the wider grid.
With the route for the new underground cable taking in parts of the A96 which runs through Elgin, temporary traffic lights will be in place at the sections where work is taking place – a measure designed to ensure the safety of both road-users and the installation teams
Mark McLeod, SSEN Distribution’s Project Manager, explains more about the work that’s now beginning:
“This essential project is a major boost for homes and businesses across Elgin. Not only is it helping make customers’ supplies even more reliable and less prone to power cuts, the increase in network capacity is helping to support the uptake in low carbon technologies and support economic growth across the city.
“Safety is the number one priority in everything we do, and while we appreciate that traffic lights can sometimes cause slight delays to people’s day-to-day routines, they’re in place for everyone’s safety, and so we ask for road users’ patience and care as they navigate parts of the route where they’re in operation. By telling people about these upcoming works now, we hope people will use this information to plan their journeys and factor in more time if required.”