Positive
Project advancing - milestone achieved
High Impact
Major milestone or critical setback
By 28 November 2025, Highland Council’s North Planning Applications Committee had granted planning consent for SSEN Transmission’s Banniskirk Hub clean energy project near Spittal in Caithness, comprising a new 400 kV AIS substation and HVDC converter station. This decision, following more than two years of development and extensive community and stakeholder engagement, provides the key onshore substation and converter consent at the Spittal end of the Spittal–Peterhead subsea cable link, meaning all permissions needed for the HVDC link to begin are now in place and allowing construction to be targeted in line with the UK’s 2030 clean power ambitions.