The project is a key element of the company’s proposed Beauly to Peterhead 400kV overhead line (OHL) connection, and will help deliver high voltage, clean renewable power for connection to homes and businesses, supporting national energy security and clean power targets.

The decision by Aberdeenshire Council’s Infrastructure Services Committee follows two years of development and extensive community and stakeholder engagement by SSEN Transmission, including three face-to-face consultation rounds with over 800 attendees and more than 130 formal responses to proposals.

The project will involve the construction of a new outdoor 400kV Air Insulated Switchgear (AIS) substation located east of Turriff and south of Cuminestown – from where it will connect to the proposed Beauly to Peterhead 400kV OHL, and to the existing New Deer substation via underground cable.

It is part of Perth-headquartered SSEN Transmission’s £22bn+ investment plan and is part of a wider renewal of the electricity transmission system across Great Britain that is required to enable the homegrown low-carbon electricity needed to deliver clean power and energy security targets. The need for the project has been independently assessed and approved by the National Energy System Operator (NESO) and energy regulator Ofgem.

The substation site was identified as the best from an environmental and technical perspective – including in terms of access routes and its connectivity to existing and proposed OHL infrastructure.

A series of pre-application consultation events gave members of the public the opportunity to help shape the substation proposals including landscape and screening measures to reduce visual impact, and proposals for Biodiversity Net Gain.

Alison Hall, director of development for SSEN Transmission, said: “We welcome today’s decision, which is another step towards unlocking the homegrown low-carbon electricity generation required to help deliver a cleaner, more secure and affordable electricity system for current and future generations.

“Investing to upgrade our electricity transmission network is also a major driver of jobs and economic activity, and we are already seeing the positive impact of our projects in the north-east of Scotland – including the start of an upgrade to our existing New Deer substation, which will help support local businesses and see around 40 working at the site during peak construction.

“In addition, our community benefit funding proposals, ambitious housing legacy commitments, and the creation of new jobs within SSEN Transmission and our supply chain partners – including graduate and apprenticeship opportunities – are also helping deliver a positive legacy in local communities”

Nick Brown, development portfolio manager at SSEN Transmission, added: “In developing our proposals, we have sought to achieve the best balance from an environmental and technical perspective taking account of the views of the local community and stakeholders with whom we have consulted extensively.

“We would like to thank all those who provided feedback as part of our pre-application consultation events, which have been key in helping shape our proposals.”