SSEN Distribution has announced a £10 million project to upgrade Islay's electricity network, a scheme designed to make the island's infrastructure more resilient and less susceptible to power cuts, and to install new technology to help restore supplies more quickly should the need arise.

The project will see SSEN teams and specialist contractors build nearly 30km of new overhead line, lay 6km of new underground cable and install a raft of new technology at the island's substations, all of which will help to boost reliability.

While the upgrade work will go a long way to reducing the potential for power cuts, there may still be occasions when a fault develops, or storms may damage infrastructure, causing supplies to be affected, and so SSEN is installing new technology at its substations at Bowmore, Port Askaig and Knocklearoch which will offer engineers more options to re-route supplies when working to get the power back on.


SSEN's main contractor for the overhead line work, Keltbray, is currently setting up site on the island at Ballygrant Quarry and taking deliveries of materials ahead of construction beginning in earnest mid-April. Work on the substations is due to begin in May, with the whole project due to last 12 months.

Barry MacTaggart is SSEN's Project Manager, and speaking ahead of work starting, said: "The work we're going to be carrying out over the next 12 months is all about improving the reliability of power supplies for the homes and businesses on Islay.

"Working on key areas of our outdoor infrastructure will ensure that the equipment is as strong as possible to withstand the challenges of a typical Islay winter, and the new equipment we're putting into our substations will provide our engineers with more options when they need to restore supplies on the rare occasions the power goes off."

SSEN's Head of Large Capital Projects, Donald MacKinnon, said: "We want to ensure that we can deliver a safe and secure supply of electricity to all our customers on Islay, and this £10m investment will see teams working across the island building new lines, installing new cables and, behind the scenes, upgrading the kit in our substations.

"All of this work will not only help boost the reliability for our current customers, but will also ensure the reliability of power supplies across the island for many years to come."