SSEN Transmission has secured a £1 billion bank facility backed by an £800m financial guarantee from the UK Government’s National Wealth Fund to support an upgrade of the grid network in the north of Scotland.

The funding is a syndication led by Bank of America and including BBVA, HSBC, JP Morgan, Lloyds, MUFG, NatWest and Santander.

The green loan will support four SSEN Transmission projects to upgrade grid capacity, improve local resilience and connect power from the places of generation to areas of demand throughout the grid.

Among the benefits is connecting Orkney to the transmission grid for the first time.

The Eastern Green Link 2 subsea high voltage cable project is the largest ever single investment in the UK transmission system and should play a critical role in delivering the UK and Scottish governments’ clean power and energy security targets.

Barry O’Regan, SSE’s chief financial officer, said: “This new bank facility supported by the National Wealth Fund financial guarantee provides an excellent source of funding diversification, and with a three-year availability window helping to manage liquidity for SSEN Transmission.

“It demonstrates the importance of grid upgrades both in achieving the country’s clean power and energy security goals, and in unlocking economic growth throughout the nations and regions of Britain.”

SSEN Transmission is owned 75% by SSE and 25% by Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board.