On 23 October, Ofgem said that it would welcome revised proposals from Scottish Hydro Electricity Transmission (SHE-T) before it makes a decision on the Final Needs Case for both the Shetland Isles transmission link and the Western Isles transmission link.
Approvals of the links had been dependent on generators on the islands securing subsidies in the latest Contracts for Difference auction. However, the Viking Energy Wind Farm on Shetland failed to win a contract, with only one of the two largest projects on the Western Isles successful.
Ofgem said that further proposals for the transmission links should be submitted, and that SHE-T should establish more certainty for consumers that the windfarm projects will go ahead.
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