The consultation will now remain open until Friday 28 July to allow more time for those interested in the project to share their views.
The proposals include plans to develop a new 400kV overhead electricity transmission line between Kintore, Fiddes and Tealing, which includes new substations at both Fiddes and Tealing. The new line is part of a GB-wide programme of works that are required to meet the UK and Scottish Government 2030 renewable targets and help secure energy independence.
Feedback from the project will now be welcomed until Friday 28 July, an additional extension of five weeks, in recognition of the extent of local interest in the project and to allow stakeholders and members of the community more time to share their views on the initial proposals. The consultation was originally extended by two weeks until this Friday, but teams hope that a second extension will allow all those with an interest in the project additional time to provide feedback.
Since our initial consultation events, the project team has been undertaking significant engagement on the project, with a wide range of stakeholders, to inform and seek feedback on the project's plans which remain at an early stage of development. Ongoing engagement with affected communities and wider stakeholders will continue beyond this consultation deadline, particularly in areas of local sensitivity, to help SSEN Transmission with its ongoing project development. The next stage of public consultation is expected later this year.
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SSEN Transmission would also like to reassure stakeholders that no decisions have yet been taken on potential overhead line routes or substation locations and the project remains at the early stages of development. All feedback received through the consultation will be carefully considered to help inform the ongoing development of this project.
Last week, SSEN Transmission published an initial response to the consultation feedback received so far, to address some of the key themes which have been identified. Once the feedback period closes, a detailed Report on Consultation will also be published to explain how feedback has been considered to inform the more detailed network design.
A spokesperson for SSEN Transmission said: "We continue to welcome all feedback on our proposals for the Kintore-Fiddes-Tealing 400kV project, which is essential to help meet the UK and Scottish Government 2030 climate change targets, as well as help secure the country's energy independence.
"We're actively listening to stakeholders and communities who have an interest in this project and have extended the deadline for feedback by a further five weeks until Friday 28 July in direct response to requests from the community.
"We thank everyone who has shared their feedback with us so far, which will be carefully considered as we further refine our proposals for this essential project.
"We're encouraging a wide range of views on our proposals and hope the extension to the deadline will provide more time for those with an interest in our project to share any feedback with us."
Separately, new analysis recently published by SSEN Transmission outlines how projects in their £10 billion 'Pathway to 2030' programme of investment, which includes the Kintore-Fiddes-Tealing 400kV overhead line, will help to deliver substantial economic benefit to Scotland and the UK - supporting thousands of high value green jobs from early careers opportunities to technical roles, helping to accommodate those transitioning from the oil and gas sectors too.
This huge investment into the transmission network across the north of Scotland will play a key role in enabling the connection of up to 11GW of new offshore wind capacity through ScotWind projects, enough to power more than ten million homes in the UK and supporting 20,000 jobs across the UK, 9,000 of which will be in Scotland.
