Thousands of homes and businesses in and around St Andrews – the home of golf – are set to benefit from a multi-million investment boost to upgrade the local electricity network and increase its capacity to support a cleaner and greener future thanks to SP Energy Networks.
The £20 million improvement project – the network operator’s biggest in the region over the next four years – will see a new primary substation installed in Guardbridge, west of St Andrews.
The substation will be connected to the grid via two new underground cable circuits, totalling 12km in length, running between Guardbridge and Cupar.
Works will get underway at the end of this month and continue until the end of 2025.
Part of SP Energy Networks’ overall £85 million spending programme across Central and Fife between 2023-2028, the project will ensure local people and communities continue to benefit from a modern, resilient and reliable electricity network.
It will also boost network capacity to facilitate the estimated 30% increase in electricity demand in the St Andrew’s area over the next ten years as more and more people make the switch to low-carbon technologies like electric vehicles (EVs) and heat pumps.
SP Energy Networks’ Project Manager, Archie Ferguson, said: “This investment will be a real game-changer for the region, ensuring that people and businesses can embrace a cleaner and greener way of life with open arms.
“To put it into perspective, this project will deliver enough additional capacity to support 1,800 new EV charging points and 1,200 heat pumps across St Andrew’s and the surrounding towns and villages. It will also support new grid connections for renewable energy projects like wind and solar farms, so it’s very much about getting the network ready for that clean energy future.
“I have no doubt this will make a real difference for generations to come and support local ambitions to become a net zero region by 2045 – we’re proud to be playing our part.”
SP Energy Networks has worked closely with Fife Council to carefully plan the route for the works, purposely avoiding working along Carslogie Road, Westport and Bonnygate in Cupar. From the east side of Cupar, at East Road, the works will track along the A91, through Dairsie and on to Guardbridge.
While the works will be completed in short sections along the route, there will be disruption, and temporary traffic restrictions will be in place as needed.
Archie concluded: “We appreciate there will be some disruption and inconvenience while these works are underway and we’re doing everything we can to keep that to a minimum. This includes choosing the least impactful route for our works, reducing the need for full road closures – where possible – and minimising the impact on traffic movement during the major events the area is renowned for.
"Throughout the works, we’ll do everything we can to keep people informed about what’s happening and when, with a leaflet drop to local homes and businesses around the first phase of the works underway."