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7 February 2007 - A planning inquiry into a controversial £320m ($630m) scheme to plug Scotland's renewable energy suppliers into the wider transmission network opened in Perth is underway.
Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) and Scottish Power, which run Scotland's power grid, are seeking the go-ahead to build a 220 kilometre (137 mile) high-voltage power line from Beauly, near Inverness, to Denny in Stirlingshire to allow increased access for renewable energy providers in the north of Scotland to consumers further south.
The planned 400,000-volt line, which will replace an existing 132,000-volt line, will have 200 fewer pylons but some will be up to 65 metres (213ft) high. Opponents of the upgrading of the line, which runs through some of Scotland's most remote mountain wilderness, say it will encourage the building of more wind farms.
SSE said the new power line would offer "more reliable and less constrained network capacity for around 2 300MW of renewable generation in the north of Scotland". The inquiry, which is scheduled to last until December, could cost up to £8m and threatens to become the longest and most expensive in Scottish planning history.
Highland council's director of planning and development, John Rennilson, said the council was happy with about 90 per cent of the plan but added: "In a limited number of locations SSE has got it wrong."
More than 17,000 objections have been received by the Scottish Executive so far, including concerns raised by local authorities through which the power line would pass, as well as conservation body Scottish Natural Heritage.
SSE said it believed the plans would eventually be approved by ministers.
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