Notice is hereby given that Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission Plc, (registered in Scotland under company registration number SC213451 at Inveralmond House 200 Dunkeld Road, Perth, PH1 3AQ) has applied to the Scottish Ministers for consent under section 37 of the Electricity Act 1989 to install and keep installed approximately 13 km of 400 kV overhead line supported on steel towers between the consented Coire Glas Pumped Storage Scheme, near Invergarry (OS Grid Reference NH263003) and the existing Fort Augustus Substation (OS Grid Reference NH356080). An EIA Report has been produced to accompany the application for consent.

Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission Plc has also applied for a direction under section 57(2) of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 that planning permission for the development be deemed to be granted.

A copy of the application, with a plan showing the land to which it relates, together with a copy of the EIA Report discussing the proposal in more detail and presenting an analysis of the environmental implications, are available for public inspection in person, free of charge, at the following locations:

The EIA Report can also be viewed on the application website at https://www.ssen-transmission.co.uk/projects/project-map/coire-glas-connection-project/; or at www.energyconsents.scot under application reference ECU00004736.

A hard copy of the EIA Report may be obtained from Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission Plc by contacting Simon Hall (simon.hall@sse.com) at a charge of £1,200 or on CD free of charge. Copies of a short non-technical summary are available free of charge.

Any representations to the application may be submitted via the Energy Consents Unit website at www.energyconsents.scot/Register.aspx; by email to the Scottish Government, Energy Consents Unit mailbox at representations@gov.scot or by post to the Scottish Government, Energy Consents Unit, 4th Floor, 5 Atlantic Quay, 150 Broomielaw, Glasgow, G2 8LU, identifying the proposal and specifying the grounds for representation. Please note that there may be a delay in the Energy Consents Unit receiving representations by post.

Written or emailed representations should be dated, clearly stating the name (in block capitals), full return email and postal address of those making representations. Only representations sent by email to representations@gov.scot will receive acknowledgement.

All representations should be received not later than Friday 9th June 2023, although Ministers may consider representations received after this date.

Any subsequent additional information which is submitted by the developer will be subject to further public notice in this manner, and representations to such information will be accepted as per this notice.

As a result of a statutory objection from the relevant planning authority, or where Scottish Ministers decide to exercise their discretion to do so, Scottish Ministers can also cause a Public Local Inquiry (PLI) to be held.

Following examination of the environmental information, Scottish Ministers will determine the application for consent in one of two ways:

· Consent the proposal, with or without conditions attached; or

· Reject the proposal

General Data Protection Regulations

The Scottish Government Energy Consents Unit processes applications under the Electricity Act 1989. To support transparency in decision making, the Scottish Government publishes representations online at www.energyconsents.scot. A privacy notice is published on the help page at www.energyconsents.scot. This explains how the Energy Consents Unit processes your personal information. If you have any concerns about how your personal data is handled, please email Econsents_admin@gov.scot