A POWER station expansion scheme which could generate thousands of construction jobs has won crucial backing from planners.
The development at Peterhead would pave the way for a £700million subsea energy link to be created between Aberdeenshire and England.
The project, which is being led by Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission (Shetl), would significantly increase the volume of electricity which can be transferred around the UK.
The company tabled plans to build a 400kV sub-station and underground cabling near its existing Peterhead plant, which sits just north of Boddam overlooking the North Sea, earlier this year.
Now the ambitious scheme has been backed by Aberdeenshire Council planning officers.
They have urged members of the local authority’s Buchan area committee to award planning permission when they meet to discuss the proposal next week.
The current UK transmission set-up is at full capacity, but the new subsea link would allow extra electricity to flow between Scotland and England and allow more renewable energy to be fed into the grid.
Inefficiencies in the system were highlighted last year when six Scottish windfarms were paid hundreds of thousands of pounds in compensation after being forced to shut down when it was too windy and the National Grid overloaded.
Shetl has teamed up with the National Grid to develop the plans, which would involve a two- gigawatt cable being run under the seabed from Boddam to Teesside.
The scheme, known as the Eastern Link, could be ready by 2018, although the 400kV substation would need to be in operation by 2016.
Land at Newton of Sandford, near Peterhead power station but on the opposite side of the A90 road to Aberdeen, has been earmarked for the substation.
A council planning spokesman said last night: “Importantly, this proposal will help facilitate energy generation within the north-east, in line with national policy.
“It is acknowledged that the substation building, by virtue of its size and bulk, will have a significant visual impact on the approach to Peterhead.
“However, it is considered that the development can be accommodated within this landscape, subject to mitigation works.”
He added: “The proposal will also bring economic benefits in terms of jobs during the construction phase of the development, which will benefit the local economy.”
A Shetl spokesman said that the subsea link represented significant investment in the north-east.