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SP Energy Networks is committed to respecting your privacy and will comply with all applicable data protection and privacy laws. We’re consulting you to get your views on our plans for Western Link 2 so we may need to share your information with certain other bodies for the purposes of the consultation and for creating reports. These are: other ScottishPower Group companies; third party service providers, contractors or advisors who provide services to us; and relevant planning authorities.
More information
More information about the project and the consultation process can be found in the project leaflet and on the consultation website www.spenenergynetworks.co.uk/pages/western_link_2.aspx
Have your say
You can submit your comments in a number of ways:
Complete this feedback form
Email us your comments at wl2@communityrelations.co.uk
Call us free of charge on FREEPHONE: 0800 033 6103
What we are consulting on
In this consultation, we’d like to know:
Your views on the proposed Monkton landfall site
Your views on the proposed converter station site
Your views on the proposed switching station site
Your views on the proposed onshore and offshore cable routes
If you have any comments about the consultation process
Any other factors you would like us to consider - we would particularly like to hear about areas you use for recreation, local environmental features or future plans you would like us to take into account.
Q1. Our preferred landfall site at Monkton
We propose to bring the subsea cables ashore at Monkton, north-west of Prestwick, where they will be joined to underground cables in a buried pit. Once installation is complete, the ground will be reinstated and no permanent above-ground infrastructure will be visible.
We selected Monkton as the landfall site after careful appraisal of potential options along the Ayrshire coast, including at Barassie (north of Troon). Bringing the cables ashore at Monkton allows a more direct route to Kilmarnock South converter station for the onshore cables, and avoids centres of population and the golf courses, thereby minimising disturbance to local communities.
The subsea cables will be installed at the landfall site below ground using Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD), to minimise any impact on the sensitive coastal environment, protected sites, the Ayrshire Coast railway line, local roads and Prestwick Golf Club.
Do you have any comments on our preferred Monkton landfall site?
Q2. Our proposed converter station
Our preferred site for the new converter station is on land next to the existing Kilmarnock South substation, minimising the amount of infrastructure needed to connect them so that AC electricity from the transmission network can be converted to HVDC for safe onward transmission via the underground and subsea cables.
The converter station will comprise large warehouse-type buildings and outside electrical equipment. The total converter station footprint will be approximately 250m x 350m in size with buildings up to 28.5m in height, to accommodate the equipment needed. We will also need temporary construction and parking areas, and underground cables to connect the converter station to the existing substation. Our plans will include landscaping and tree-planting to help screen the site, reduce its visual effects and increase biodiversity. Access would be via the A76 to the A719.
Do you have any comments on the location of the proposed converter station site?
Q3. Our proposed Grangestone switching station
The proposed Grangestone switching station will connect the MachairWind Offshore Wind Farm via subsea HVDC cables into Western Link 2, allowing around 2GW of clean, green energy to flow in to the transmission network.
It is not possible to create a ‘tee’ joint between HVDC cables, so we need a switching station where we can ‘terminate’ each of the three connections (Western Link 2 north, south and Machair Wind) and then connect them to each other using air-insulated busbars, similar to the equipment used in substations. This also means that if maintenance is needed on one connection, it can be disconnected while the other two remain in service.
The equipment is large and needs space for safety clearances, and so requires three buildings approximately 85m × 30m in size and around 25m in height.
We appraised a number of potential sites for the switching station in the Girvan and Ballantrae areas. Our preferred site is between the A77 road and Grangestone industrial estate, which is partly screened from the A77 and coast by an area of woodland. From the north, the site would be seen in the context of the existing industrial estate, with opportunities for landscaping and screening from the northern, eastern and western boundaries.
The site also allows for a shorter cable route to the coast – approximately 2.6km – than other options, and is further from local homes, minimising the potential disruption from construction. The cable route would cross the A77, Ayrshire Coastal Path and woodland using HDD, to minimise any impact on the environment.
Do you have any comments on the proposed Grangestone switching station?
Q4. Onshore cable route
Our preferred route for the underground cables between the converter station at Kilmarnock South and the landfall point at Monkton is approximately 13km in length, broadly following the A77 mainly through rural areas.
It will cross watercourses, including Muggersland Burn and Pow Burn (twice), a number of local and major roads (including the A77 and A78), the Glasgow–Ayr/Stranraer rail line, the National Cycle Network route and three core paths (one of which is the Ayrshire Coastal Path). We will use trenchless technology (such as HDD) to pass safely beneath these and other features if we cannot route around them, to minimise disruption. We are aware of flooding issues in the area and will carry out flood risk studies as part of our environmental appraisals, to ensure that any works will not add to local flood risks.
We recognise that construction work can cause temporary inconvenience and disturbance, but we believe our preferred route will keep this to a minimum. Once the cables are installed, the land will be reinstated and there will be no visible above-ground infrastructure.
Do you have any comments on the proposed onshore cable route?
Q5. Marine cable route
Our preferred route for the subsea cables has been developed through careful environmental and technical assessment of potential route options, and will be refined in consultation with Scottish shipping and fisheries organisations and environmental bodies. It takes into account protected and designated areas and infrastructure, such as pipelines, cables, wrecks and military considerations, including areas known to contain unexploded ordnance. You can find detailed information and maps on our website and at our consultation events.
Do you have any comments on the proposed marine cable route?
Q7. Do you have any comments about our public consultation or any other comments you would like to make?
Thank you
Following this round of consultation, we will develop detailed designs for the landfall, converter station, switching station and cable routes, including locations for access routes and working areas. We will publish a report summarising the feedback received in this first round of consultation and how this has influenced our plans. We will then carry out detailed environmental appraisals on the marine and onshore elements of the project and hold a further round of public consultation on the detailed designs.
SP Energy Networks will be applying to East Ayrshire and South Ayrshire Councils for planning permission in principle (PiP) under the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act.
For the marine cables, our marine environmental consultants conduct a separate environmental appraisal that assesses the potential impact of the project on the marine environment, shipping and navigation, commercial fisheries and other marine users. The appraisal will accompany an application to the Scottish Government Marine Directorate – Licensing Operations Team (MD-LOT) for a licence to install the marine cables in Scottish waters. Consents will also be required for those elements of the Project in other jurisdictions, too. MachairWind will submit their consent applications for the windfarm development area to MD-LOT in 2026.
At this stage, your comments are not representations to the planning authorities or MD-LOT. When we make applications for development consent in future, you will be able to make formal representations at that stage.