This month CGL has provided initial site investigations for a planned new substation as part of a transmission reinforcement project in Argyll and Bute in western Scotland.
The particularly large investigation had challenging access requirements involving multiple slopes, trees, ditches and ecologically sensitive areas. The site lies within commercial forestry, with soft peat bogs and recently felled areas, so our team used specialised wide-tracked, low load-bearing plant to access all proposed exploratory locations.
CGL’s work to establish the ground conditions included the use of rotary drilled boreholes with downhole optical surveying, trial pitting and peat probing.
Following a competitive tender, CGL is working directly for Scottish & Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) for the first time, although with several familiar faces on the project team. The new 275/132kV Creag Dhubh substation (formerly referred to as North Argyll substation) is required along with a new 275kV overhead line and a rebuild of a 132kV line. The overall North Argyll project aims to reinforce the existing transmission network in the region to enable renewable energy projects to connect to the network and to ensure security of supply.
More details of the project are at www.ssen-transmission.co.uk/projects/north-argyll
