8 Oct 2026
Community campaigners in the Scottish Borders are dismayed by energy giant SPEN’s offer to rename - but not relocate – its major substation planned for unspoilt Lauderdale countryside.
The proposed Gala North substation would most likely be visible from the Southern Uplands Way and is adjacent to Threepwood Moss, a European Special Area of Conservation and a UK Site of Special Scientific Interest. Threepwood provides crucial habitat for rare plants and wildlife including curlew, lapwing, butterfly and several species of orchid.
The first phase of development is six hectares but the total site covers approximately 24 hectares, equivalent to 40 football pitches. SPEN has kept open the possibility of further expansion.
Spanish-owned SP Energy Networks has indicated that it would be willing to rename the substation, to provide a more accurate reference to its actual location, following representations from both Calum Kerr MSP and John Lamont MP.
But campaigners say it is the location, not the name, that is the issue.
Local resident Ian Foulkes said: “To offer to rename the substation but not relocate it is totally insulting. It doesn’t matter what the name is – it should be somewhere that is already industrial, not a conservation area.
“The information provided by SPEN does not give the full picture of what is planned here. There will be six large power lines, four of them new, converging at Threepwood. Would they run across Lauder Common? SPEN themselves admit that it is all about enabling more windfarms, battery sites and solar farms to connect to the network. But we don’t need any more in Scotland – all the power is shipped to England anyway. The Lauder-Liverpool Power Transfer Station would be the most accurate name for it. If this substation gets the go-ahead it opens the door to massive industrialisation of the Scottish Borders.”
The Cross Border Connection overhead line, the electricity infrastructure which transmits power generated in Scotland to England would feed into the substation, along with the Harburn – Gala North powerline, which is not yet open to public consultation. The Dun Law Extension line may also link to Gala North. In addition, two further battery storage and solar farms nearby are likely to be facilitated by construction of the substation (the 20-hectare Sheepfold Energy Storage Site and the 76-hectare Woodheads Energy Park).
Borders Windfarm Watch points out that the existing power lines could be re-conductored using modern technology to carry more high-voltage electricity, without the need to build additional overhead lines in south east Scotland.
Ian Foulkes continued: “Threepwood Moss has been a special place since the Ice Age. It is the best preserved habitat of this type in southern Scotland. We would be endangering this treasured history, landscape and wildlife just to provide more energy for England. It makes no sense.”
SPEN has not yet announced when the second stage of consultations will open on the planned Gala North substation.