Fort Augustus - Skye Reinforcement Transmission Project

Find out about plans to upgrade an overhead power line that runs from Fort Augustus to north Skye and read our feedback in response.

Scottish and Southern Electricity Network (SSEN) Transmission are consulting on options for the upgrade and preferred route of an overhead transmission line that runs from Ardmore, north Skye, to Fort Augustus, on the mainland.

A section of the existing line runs along part of the Trust’s Sconser estate on Skye, below the Corbett, Glamaig. The preferred option for this section of the upgraded line is to follow the existing line and replace the existing wooden poles with steel structures. We have concerns about the visual intrusion of steel structures in sensitive wild land. The structures are likely to diminish the remote and rugged wild qualities of nearby Wild Land Areas and the surrounding dramatic and sensitive landscapes.

The consultation period has been extended from 24 April to 18 May 2020. Written feedback on the proposals is welcome and can be submitted through an online feedback form on the project’s website (link below).

Following this consultation SSEN expect to refine the route, consider design mitigation and undertake environmental surveys. There will be further consultation in late 2020, and a planning application is expected to be submitted in 2021, with a timetable for the line to be constructed by 2025.

Please get in touch if you would like to share your thoughts with us and please consider completing your own response. You can do so by accessing the project’s website here.

The Trust’s feedback during the April-May 2020 consultation window can be found below.