Balfour Beatty awarded £43m Scottish overhead line and cabling works

Balfour Beatty has scooped two contracts worth £43.5m for the Beauly to Keith 132kV modernisation programme, with the firm responsible for ensuring the long-term secure supply of electricity for residents in the north of Scotland.

The first contract is worth £36m and will involve the design, supply, installation construction and commissioning of the overhead line works across a 103km route running between Beauly, Nairn, Elgin and Keith. The second contract worth £7.5m will include the design, engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning of underground cabling sections of the route.

The contracts have been awarded by Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission plc, part of Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) through the existing F2 Overhead Line General Works Framework and the 132kV Underground Cable Works Framework. 

Balfour Beatty is set to start work in the coming months with completion for the whole works due early 2021. The project will employ a workforce of around 110 people including a number of graduates, trainees and local contractors.

The infrastructure giant has been collaborating with SSEN through the feasibility and development stages of the project since early 2017 and will be supporting SSEN to achieve its 50 by 20 safety target of reducing the number of injuries by 50% by 2020.

Andy Smith, operations director for Balfour Beatty’s Power Transmission and Distribution business in Scotland said: “These two contracts are testament to Balfour Beatty’s ability to support our clients through the development stages of projects, identifying design solutions and value engineering opportunities. This project shows our ability to bring together both overhead line and cabling capability under a single programme of works, reducing the risk to our client of managing design and operational interfaces as the project progresses.”

SSEN lead project manager, Ian Clark, added: “The Beauly to Keith reconductoring project will increase the 132kV electricity network capacity whilst replacing assets which are nearing the end of their working life, further securing the supply of electricity in the north of Scotland. Balfour Beatty have been integral to the development of the project and their significant experience in delivering similar projects will be invaluable over the next three years.”