Header image: Richard Jennings from SSEN Transmission presenting to attendees at Scotland’s Towns Conference 2025
SSEN Transmission, as part of its major investment programme to upgrade Scotland’s electricity transmission network, is driving more than just energy infrastructure. The company is actively delivering housing, jobs, and community benefits. Their approach demonstrates how large-scale infrastructure investment can be leveraged to support long-term social and economic resilience in the north of Scotland.
Futureproofing Housing
Under its “Pathway to 2030” investment programme, SSEN Transmission has pledged to support the delivery of over 1,000 new homes across the north of Scotland.
The housing strategy recognises that the scale of the required energy infrastructure — with a workforce peaking at thousands of workers — risks exacerbating existing rural housing pressures. By building housing to accommodate workers, the company aims to deliver a lasting housing legacy for local communities once the projects are completed.
The initial projects under this pledge have already been announced: for example, SSEN Transmission is supporting a development of nearly 100 homes in the Western Isles (for the network expansion there) and 47 homes in Brechin, Angus.
While these homes will initially accommodate the workforce building the transmission infrastructure, the majority are planned to be made available as affordable or social housing for local communities afterwards.
Building a workforce of the future
The company has committed to recruiting 600 more “earn as you learn” roles between now and 2030, including apprenticeships, graduate schemes, trainee roles and reskilling opportunities — particularly targeting regions across the north of Scotland: the Highlands, islands, Aberdeenshire, Wick, Elgin, Shetland, and beyond.
As part of its commitments under the recently signed Highland Social Value Charter (HSVC), SSEN Transmission plans to award £1.8 billion worth of contracts to Highland-based businesses, supporting over 2,200 jobs in the region.
Local impact and a positive legacy
SSEN Transmission launched a Community Benefit Fund, initially with £10 million pledged, to support community projects across the north of Scotland.
In 2025, the first £2 million tranche of the fund was awarded to ten organisations, supporting a range of initiatives: from skills development and employability programmes, to energy-efficiency retrofitting hubs that help address fuel poverty, to cultural and community-led projects.
The company expects that, over the full span of its investment plans, community benefit funding could exceed £100 million — a scale rarely seen tied to major transmission infrastructure.
Alongside housing and employment commitments, SSEN Transmission underlines a holistic vision: support for local supply chains, engagement with local contractors and businesses, and efforts to deliver social value such as tackling fuel poverty, enhancing local infrastructure, and supporting community wellbeing.
