A new facility in Glasgow, Scotland, with the capacity for around 80 green energy workers who will be contributing to the delivery of a series of subsea electricity transmission links between Scotland and England, has been officially opened by Glasgow North MP, Martin Rhodes.
The Eastern Green Link (EGL) Collaboration Centre will bring together employees from the SSEN Transmission and National Grid Electricity Transmission joint venture – and the supply chain partners they have appointed – to deliver the EGL series of electricity transmission subsea superhighways, starting with EGL2, the construction of which began in October.
The facility has been designed with collaboration in mind. It includes a performance centre which makes use of cutting-edge technology to drive performance; a dedicated area for supply chain partners to collaborate, and a space where both transmission operators can come together and work as one combined EGL team.
Once complete, EGL2 and EGL3 will be the biggest electricity transmission projects ever delivered in the UK and will play a critical role in helping Scotland and the UK to meet energy security and clean power targets.
In September, the groundbreaking event took place in Peterhead to mark the start of construction of EGL2 – a £4.3bn 525kV, 2GW high-voltage direct current (HVDC) subsea transmission cable from Peterhead in Scotland to Drax in Yorkshire.
EGL2 will generate jobs and provide a legacy to local communities in the north-east of Scotland, and the new office space in Glasgow establishes a base in the central belt for green employment opportunities – and gives National Grid an office presence north of the border for the first time.
Speaking as the office was officially opened, SSEN Transmission’s managing director Rob McDonald said: “The opening of the Eastern Green Link Collaboration Centre in Glasgow is yet another demonstration of the country’s transition to a clean, green energy future, and the quality jobs that are being created, both as part of this joint venture and in our supply chain.
“EGL2 and EGL3 are two crucial projects that we’re working to deliver at SSEN Transmission as part of our £20bn ‘Pathway to 2030′ investment programme to help achieve the energy security and net-zero goals of Scotland and the UK.
“Having a dedicated office space in the centre of Glasgow for the EGL pipeline of subsea projects will see the central belt, as well as the north and north east of Scotland, benefitting economically from the delivery of this crucial new infrastructure.”
National Grid Electricty Transmission’s President for UK Strategic Infrastructure, Carl Trowell, said: “This collaboration centre is National Grid’s first bricks-and-mortar presence in Glasgow, and we are pleased to also be increasing our presence across our other joint ventures in Scotland due to the size and scale of our projects.
“National Grid is investing £30bn in the UK over the next five years; a transformational step up in clean energy infrastructure investment, unprecedented in its scale and ambition.
“This investment is a stimulus for economic growth and will support 55,000 more UK jobs by the end of the decade, while also accelerating the decarbonisation of the energy system for the digital, electrified economies of the future.”
Rhodes added: “This new facility is a great addition to Glasgow, bringing skilled jobs that are crucial for our clean energy future.
“Projects like the Eastern Green Links 2 and 3 highlight the vital role the UK is playing in building a stronger, sustainable energy network. It’s good to see Glasgow at the heart of these ambitious developments, creating opportunities and supporting our transition to net zero.”