Prime Highlights:
- Scotland launches a major £5.4bn investment to modernise its electricity grid, supporting clean energy growth across the UK.
- The upgrade is set to create thousands of jobs, strengthen energy security, and help lower long-term electricity costs.
Key Facts:
- Scottish Power and SSE will invest £2bn and £3.4bn respectively as part of Ofgem’s wider £28bn UK infrastructure upgrade plan.
- The project includes 12 new substations, hundreds of kilometres of upgraded circuits, and two new subsea power links to transport Scotland’s surplus renewable energy.
Background:
Scotland’s electricity network is set for one of its biggest modernisation drives, after energy regulator Ofgem approved £5.4bn of investment to strengthen the country’s transmission infrastructure. The move forms part of a wider £28bn UK-wide plan to upgrade electricity and gas networks over the next five years.
Under the programme, Scottish Power will invest about £2bn in the central and southern regions, while SSE will commit £3.4bn to upgrades across the north. Both companies say the improvements will support the rapid growth of renewable energy and reduce the UK’s reliance on imported gas in the long term.
Although Ofgem expects energy bills to rise by around £108 by 2031 to fund the work, it predicts households will still save roughly £80 more than they would without the upgrade, thanks to lower wholesale energy costs. Scottish Power estimates the rise for its customers will be around £12 a year.
Scottish Power chief executive Keith Anderson said the new infrastructure would help cut constraint costs, the expense of switching off generators when energy cannot be transported, by about £5bn annually. He added that a stronger grid would ultimately help drive energy prices down and support economic growth across the UK.
The investment programme is also expected to create thousands of jobs. Scottish Power plans to double its SP Energy Networks workforce as part of a £12bn wider package, generating about 1,400 new roles. Anderson said the company is recruiting heavily, with 300 new hires needed this year and more than 3,000 additional roles expected by 2027.
Work in central and southern Scotland will include 12 new substations, upgrades to hundreds of kilometres of circuits and overhead lines, and replacement of underground cables. Two new subsea electricity links off the east coast will also be developed to help move Scotland’s surplus renewable power to England.
Anderson said communities will be engaged throughout the process to ensure local needs are considered. “If we want homes, data centres and investment across the country, we need an electricity system that can support it,” he said. “Without this, there is no path to sustainable growth in the UK.”
