Plans for a major upgrade of electricity infrastructure in a Highland town will be revealed later this month.
SSE are planning to reinforce the existing grid supply in Fort William, including replacing redundant equipment nearly 50 years old.
The proposals will be revealed at a consultation event on Tuesday, July 12 in the Lochaber town.
The plans involve reinforcing an existing Fort William substation at Achintee Road near the town’s football club.
The project is being developed by Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission (SHE Transmission), which says that it will facilitate new generation connections and improve security of supply for the area.
The project will involve undergrounding some of the existing overhead lines beside the site, a new access to divert traffic away from nearby houses and creating new screening to reduce visibility of the substation.
The transmission company will also install two new 33kV grid transformers and control equipment while the redundant 45-year-old substation equipment will be dismantled and removed.
The existing access to the site will also be removed.
As part of the planning process SHE Transmission will be consulting with Highland Council, Scottish Natural Heritage, Historic Scotland, Scottish Water, key statutory bodies, local communities and other interested parties.
A spokeswoman for the company said: “Throughout the life of SHE Transmission’s projects, it aims to work positively with local communities and keep people informed about what it is doing.
“This is particularly important when developing a proposal and needing to understand what local people think about SHE Transmission’s plans.
“It endeavours to take the time to discuss proposals with local community councils, encourage engagement from the wider community and listen to the feedback it receives.”
The public consultation event will take place at Voluntary Action Lochaber on Claggan Road in Fort William on July 12 between 3pm and 7pm.
