The funding package for the 160km Caithness-Moray subsea power line shaves almost £174m off the original costing by system developer Scottish Hydro Electricity Transmission (SHET) "to ensure consumers pay no more than necessary," said the regulator.
The new link will connect the grids on either side of the Moray Firth, tying in renewable electricity generation after 2018.
Utility SSE sees the transmission line – which will be book-ended by a pair of onshore converter stations, one rated at 1.2GW
