Energy company SSEN Distribution has announced the names of five contract partners who will help deliver a £450m programme of investment in the north of Scotland’s electricity distribution network.

Work will deliver improvements across nine sub-regions of the north of Scotland network licence area between now and the turn of the decade.

This huge, diverse region covers rural communities, villages, towns and cities, from Dundee and Aberdeen, to Argyll, the Highlands and all of Scotland’s islands.

The investment will see the existing network of wooden poles and overhead lines renewed and reinforced, substations updated, and improvements made to the underground network.

SSEN Distribution says the work will boost network resilience in the face of a more volatile climate, support the connection of low carbon technologies and decarbonised industries and increase reliability for customers.

The five winning firms are:

• OCU Utility Services
• Clancy
• Freedom Group
• Macaulay Askernish
• Brush Group (which includes KUS Power Engineering and McGowan Group)

SSEN’s director of large capital delivery, Fraser Hood, said: “We’re proud to have signed agreements which will deliver massive improvements to local electricity networks in the north of Scotland.

“The transformative investment we’re making means we’re in the best-possible position to deliver an electricity system which will support sustainable economic growth, benefit the environment in the decades to come, and create significant job opportunities during construction in communities across the north of Scotland.

“In selecting these five contract partners after a fair, open, and competitive tendering process, we’ve secured the ability to deliver our massive programme of investment efficiently and effectively. This transformation will ensure increased resilience, flexibility, and capacity for our 800,000 customers in the north of Scotland.

“The way these partnerships have been drawn up will mean we can reduce supply chain risks and secure the specialist skills we need to help deliver decarbonisation effectively for our customers and communities.”