Seagreen onshore project get cable pulling underway across 19km route through Angus, Scotland

Work to pull cabling through 19.5km of underground ducts which will connect the £3bn Seagreen Wind Farm to the national grid is underway in Angus.

The cable pulling is the latest stage in the cable installation process and another milestone in the construction of the 1,075MW 114-turbine development 27km off the coast of the county, which when operational, will power up to 1.6m homes throughout the country.

Once finished, the cabling will reach from where the project makes landfall in Carnoustie to a new dedicated substation currently under construction in Tealing.

But how does cable pulling work? Here are the facts:

• The cable route from Carnoustie to the Tealing substation is approximately 19.5 km long, comprising of three circuits.
• Each circuit has three individual 220kv AC electrical cables.
• A total of 108 cable drums, each carrying up to 1.7 km of cable, will be used in the cable pulling works.
• Jointing bays, which are up to 1.7km apart, are used to join each section of cable to the next.
• Each cable drum is set up on a trailer at one end of a section with a cable winch set up at the other.
• The winch pulls the cables through previously installed underground ducts.
• The process involves about 10 people, with 5 at either end of a section.
• It takes up to 3 hours to install each section of cable.

Onshore Electrical Infrastructure Project Manager, Steven Reid from SSE Renewables is responsible for the cable installation project. He said:

“The start of the cable pulling process marks an important achievement in the delivery of the onshore electrical transmission infrastructure following significant efforts from the Project Team and the support of various stakeholders.

“Again, I‘d like to express our thanks to all who live along the route for their co-operation and understanding as the project has progressed up to this stage of delivery. Working with our Contractor Nexans, we now look forward to continue to deliver the installation of the 19km of cabling safely and with the least amount of disruption possible to the surrounding community.”

Scott McCreadie, Nexans Resident Project Manager, said:

“We are delighted to be pursuing this project on Scotland's largest wind farm and thereby contributing to the UK's net carbon ambitions by providing electricity to up to 1.6 million homes.”

When complete, Seagreen – a joint venture between SSE Renewables and TotalEnergies – will be Scotland’s single largest source of renewable energy, providing a significant contribution to Scotland’s net-zero ambition.

The vital cable installation work is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2021.