News follows SSE £33bn investment plan announcement
SSEN Transmission welcomes the announcement by Ofgem that the energy regulator has approved Early Construction Funding (ECF) requests for eight of its projects .
ECF enables Transmission Operators (TOs) to place procurement orders for projects supported by this mechanism at the earliest opportunity, and therefore reduces the risk of costly delays. ECF is also used to finance associated enabling works such as land purchases and surveys.
Securing early investment means that if projects receive planning permission, they will be able to connect consumers to homegrown, clean power more quickly.
The projects are part of the Accelerated Strategic Transmission Investment (ASTI) framework – Ofgem’s streamlined process to help achieve the UK Government’s clean power goals by 2030, including connecting 43 – 50GW of offshore wind.
Rob McDonald, Managing Director of SSEN Transmission, said:
“This welcome news is a vote of confidence in our ASTI investment programme, as well as a boost to the country’s energy security and clean power ambitions.
“Having these eight projects underpinned by the Early Construction Mechanism enables us to progress with procurement activity in securing critical substation and overhead line components, de-risk our investment programme, and ensure that we stay on track for delivery by 2030.
“By building in efficiency through front-loading procurement and enabling works, the Early Construction Funding mechanism for these projects means that we can maintain the pace needed to secure more affordable sources of home-grown energy, and protect the interests of consumers throughout the process.
“This development adds to the momentum of grid investment, following last week’s announcement by SSE of a £33bn five-year investment plan to help transform the UK’s energy infrastructure – of which around 80% will go towards upgrading the grid, including our transmission infrastructure – and the recent milestone by SSEN Transmission of the final submission of the 34 major consent applications for our 11 ‘Pathway to 2030’ projects.”
For further information: Ofgem unlocks early investment for slew of fast-track clean power projects | Ofgem