Finstown camp mooted to house up to 230 workers

A temporary camp to accommodate up to 230 workers could be built outside Finstown as part of the new substation development, where construction is due to start this summer.

SSEN says the project, which will see a new electricity transmission network connect Orkney with the Scottish mainland, is moving forwards at pace.

The SSEN project will involve installing a new subsea transmission cable, which will enable the connection of up to 220MW of new renewable electricity to the national grid.

It will consist of a new substation outside Finstown, linked with around 14km of underground cable across Orkney to where the 53km subsea cable from Caithness makes landfall at Warebeth.

SSEN project teams expect to begin construction on the project in summer this year, with the cable expected to be energised in 2028.

All planning consents are in place for the point-to-point connection, with work underway to plan the on-island infrastructure required to connect and transport Orkney renewable projects to Finstown substation, before onward transmission to the north of Scotland and beyond.

SSEN explained that, to help ensure there is suitable accommodation available for the workforce involved in building the project, a new temporary workforce accommodation camp is expected to be constructed.

This will help house the workforce who will be involved in the installation of the substation at Finstown and underground cable from the substation to landfall at Warebeth.

The temporary camp will be built near the Finstown substation site within the site area boundary, and is expected to accommodate up to 230 staff. The accommodation block will be removed after the project is complete and the land restored as before, SSEN has said this week.

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