Replacement electricity cable ready to be laid

Multi-million pound replacement electricity cable ready to be laid between Harris and Skye

1 August 2021

Seabed surveys are being carried out ahead of laying a new electricity cable between Skye and the northern part of the Western Isles.

Experts are examining two days of data gathering after profiling the contours of the sea floor providing detailed route engineering along the planned 20 mile long distance across the Minch.

A final decision to proceed cable laying is imminent.

Lewis and Harris have been cut off from the national electricity grid since October when a major fault occurred in the 33,000-volt electricity distribution cable connecting to the Scottish mainland the only energy link between the locations.

The broken section is about around nine miles out from the Skye coast - lying too deep down to carry out repairs.

The biggest casualties are the raft of private and community owned turbines dotted about the moorland. They’ve had to stand still for the past nine months, with the community schemes in particular losing income worth millions of pounds.

Electricity supplies have been generated by on-island polluting diesel generation since the autumn.

SSE say they have permits in place - covering emissions to air, sea and land - regulated by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.

That covers the Stornoway power station which now needs to run 24/7 to keep the islands’ lights on. The facility is only meant to operate for a few days of back-up in winter power cuts but will have been operating non-stop for ten months by the time the new cable is fully connected to the local network.

Supply was also supplemented by a diesel generator at Arnish.

An additional 6MW of contingency generation has been sited at at Battery Point via large mobile diesel generators and an associated fuelling system connected to a mobile substation.