IN Brief:
- BAM UK & Ireland and Siemens Energy will deliver SSEN Transmission’s Greens 400kV substation in Aberdeenshire.
- The project forms part of SSEN Transmission’s £29bn investment in Scotland’s electricity transmission network.
- Main construction is expected to begin this summer after early works are completed.
BAM UK & Ireland has secured its first contract under the Accelerated Strategic Transmission Investment framework, working in joint venture with Siemens Energy to deliver the Greens 400kV substation in Aberdeenshire for SSEN Transmission.
The scheme forms part of SSEN Transmission’s £29bn programme to upgrade the electricity transmission network across the north of Scotland. The new substation will strengthen capacity in a region where renewable generation is expanding and where grid infrastructure is increasingly dictating the speed at which energy projects can connect into the wider UK system.
Construction is expected to begin this summer once early works are complete. BAM’s role will cover the civil engineering and construction requirements needed to support high-voltage substation delivery, while Siemens Energy brings the electrical systems expertise required for transmission-scale infrastructure.
Alongside the core works, the project is expected to create supply chain opportunities and community investment in Aberdeenshire. SSEN Transmission has also linked the scheme to local employment, apprenticeships, and investment in local housing and infrastructure around Turriff, placing regional economic commitments alongside the technical delivery brief.
Electricity transmission work has moved rapidly up the construction pipeline as the UK attempts to connect more renewable generation, reinforce ageing assets, and expand network capacity for electrification. Substation construction now sits at the centre of that workload, combining earthworks, foundations, access, buildings, security, drainage, specialist M&E, commissioning, and outage planning into programmes that leave little room for weak coordination.
The award follows Ofgem’s approval of early construction funding for major Scottish transmission schemes, which gave transmission operators more room to progress procurement, land, surveys, design, and enabling works before full project approval. That funding route is becoming increasingly important as global demand tightens for transformers, switchgear, cable, converter equipment, and specialist electrical labour.
ASTI was created to accelerate strategically important transmission infrastructure, but acceleration changes the delivery conditions for contractors. Earlier procurement can reduce exposure to long-lead equipment risks, yet faster programmes also require clearer design maturity, tighter interface control, and stronger site sequencing. Substations are particularly exposed to those risks because civil works, electrical installation, security systems, telecoms, access roads, and network commissioning must converge at defined points in the programme.
Scotland’s grid build-out also brings public-facing construction challenges. Transmission reinforcements often sit in rural or semi-rural locations where communities carry visual, traffic, access, and land-use impacts. Contractors will need to deliver efficiently while managing haul routes, local engagement, temporary works, environmental controls, and reinstatement.
For BAM, the Greens contract adds a major grid project to its infrastructure workload at a time when electricity networks are becoming one of the most active parts of the UK construction market. For the wider sector, it confirms that grid reinforcement is now a mainstream construction programme, not a specialist energy-sector sidebar.
