Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) has asked Ofgem for conditional approval of its “final needs case” for a subsea cable transmission link from the Western Isles to the Scottish mainland.

If developers commit themselves to new generation in the 2019 Contract for Difference auction, SSEN would install a single 600MW subsea circuit from Arnish on Lewis to Dundonnell on the Scottish mainland at a cost, according to The Guardian, of £650-700 million. This would connect to SSEN’s Beauly substation near Inverness via underground cables.