New life for Baltasound Airport? And Lerwick Harbour gets busier and busier

Chevron has confirmed it is looking into the possible reopening of the mothballed Baltasound Airport in Unst to service its Rosebank oil and gas development, according to this Shetland News story:

http://www.shetnews.co.uk/news/7163-chevron-to-check-out-baltasound-airport


And at Lerwick Port Authority, it's a story of larger vessels, more cargo, and investment in new quays and infrastructure paying off over the past six months

Improved access and expanded deep-water facilities at the Port of Lerwick continues to deliver results, with larger vessels handling increased cargo in the first half of the year. There were 2512 vessel arrivals in the six months to June, three fewer than in the same period in 2012, with tonnage of shipping up 9% to 6.1 million gross tonnes, including 1.8 million gross tonnes of oil-related shipping, a rise of 26%. The 705 pilotage movements were up 14%, with the 4.5 million gross tonnes of vessels piloted also increased by 14%.

Cargo across the port’s near 4,000 metres of quays rose by 18% to 530,285 tonnes including oilrelated shipments higher by 42.5% at 93,063 tonnes. Support for offshore projects and shipments of equipment for the construction of the Shetland Gas Plant, near Sullom Voe, and its onward transportation by sea and road, were a feature of the period's activity.

Lerwick Port Authority Deputy Chief Executive, Victor Sandison, said: “The port handled virtually the same number of vessels, but significantly more cargo, underlining the value of ongoing investment in expanded facilities, including deep-water quays, which accommodate larger vessels, as reflected again in the tonnage of shipping this year.

“Two additional quays will be completed in the second half of the year, further expanding the infrastructure, and other developments are in the pipeline.”

Passengers using the port increased by 1% to 69,248, due to a 5% rise in ferry traffic and despite
a forecast fall in cruise passengers, down 16%, due to factors affecting specific operators.
Fish landings totalled 27,765 tonnes,  valued at £26.7 million – up 44% on volume and 40% on
value. The 5,538 tonnes of white fish were valued at £8.1 million – up 5.8% on volume and down 6% on value, with the price per tonne decreased by 11% to average £1,474 per tonne.

Pipes to go...

The giant crane barge Thialf needs to be in position before H-405 can  leave Lerwick and her cargo of pipes be lowered to the seabed as part of the Clair Ridge project. Another picture and story at Shetland News.

New technologies making marginal fields viable - report

A new report from accountancy firm Deloitte shows that drilling activity in the North Sea 'remains steady' and that innovative technologies mean developments previously not considered economically viable are now beginning to provide real prospects.

BBC report here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-23363783

Instant broadband for festival shows fibre's potential

A 'pop up' superfast broadband facility for a community festival in a remote part of Shetland shows how the fast fibre optic cable running the length of the Shetland Mainland can be deployed effectively.

Full story from The Shetland News here.

Consultation opens on onshore wind developments in Shetland

Consultation opens on guidance for onshore wind energy developments

Shetland Islands Council’s Planning Service has launched a 12-week consultation on guidance for proposed onshore wind energy developments. Its purpose is to:

• Provide developers with information and guidance on where, in principle, large-scale onshore wind energy developments and all associated infrastructure are likely to be acceptable

• Provide the criteria in which developments between 50KW and 20MW will be assessed

• Provide guidance for micro-turbine schemes

The guidance is available online at www.shetland.gov.uk/ldp along with the relevant forms for those who’d like to comment. Paper copies can also be viewed at the Council’s Planning offices at Grantfield in Lerwick. 

The consultation will run till 5pm on 7th October 2013 – anyone requiring further information should contact the Development Plans team on 01595 744800.

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Super Pumas back in the air?

A solution to the 'potentially catastrophic' gearbox failure in the North Sea's fleet of Eurocopter EC225 Super Puma helicopters has been identified by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), which  has published an airworthiness directive. The machines could be flying again relatively soon.

Read Frank Urquhart's Scotsman story here.

Oxford to Minsk on a pint of petrol - designed and made in Shetland!

In a fantastic achievement for groundbreaking local firm Shetland Composites, Oxford University's Energy and Power Group recently won the Technical Innovation Award at the Shell Eco Challenge in Rotterdam for their super-efficient vehicle 'Peggie'.

Shetland Composites who work for major names in the renewables, marine, fisheries and packaging industries in the fields of carbon fibre, polyester and epoxy resin fabrication and design, designed and built Peggie's six kg, composite carbon fibre technology shell.

The event seeks to find the vehicle which can complete 10 laps of a 1.6km track at an average speed of 25kph using the least amount of energy from the propulsion batteries. The team managed to prevail against numerous problems to register three valid attempts and a 50%+ improvement on last year's range, achieving 564km/kWh (Oxford to Minsk on the equivalent of a pint of petrol). Team Peggie were awarded the overall technical innovation prize out of a pool of over 200 teams from across Europe. 

Full details of the challenge and EPG's success here

Video crediting all the firms involved in the project here

World's largest crane lifting vessel in Lerwick

The Hereema Marine deepwater construction vessel Thialf has been in Lerwick Harbour this week for a crew change and minor repairs, following work on BP's Clair Ridge Project.

Thialf (see Wikipedia) has two cranes with a combined maximum lifting capacity of 14,200 metric tons, making it the largest capacity crane vessel in the world. However, it has lower height lifting capabilities than its competitor Saipem 7000http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saipem_7000 - which has lifting capability of 14,000 tonnes at 42 meters;  Thialf can lift 14,200 tonnes at 31.2 meters.

Full Shetland Times story here

E.ON to focus on wind, solar and biomass - pulls out of Orkney wave energy project

BBC News is reporting that German energy giant E.ON  - the world's largest electricity generation company - is to cease working with Edinburgh-based Pelamis Wave Energy on the testing in Orkney of one of the Pelamis wave energy convertors, the P2-002. E.ON says it will now focus on what it calls 'mature' renewable technologies such as 'wind, solar and biomass', though it may return to marine energy development later.

Pelamis says the decision will not affect its plans. Its first commercial wave energy machines will be in operation 'within the next couple of years'.

BBC News story here

Third Eco Flag for wind-powered Shetland school

Urafirth Primary School in Hillswick has just been awarded its third 'eco flag', recognising its commitment to the environment, work towards sustainability and longstanding status as one Shetland's first users of windpower in an educational context

The school's mini-croft - featuring raised beds - and polytunnel were singled out for praise by Eco Schools Scotland as efforts continue at Urafirth to use food grown locally - and sometimes by the children themselves. Beautiful floral displays also lend colour to the school environment.

Road safety and a commitment to keeping the area tidy and beautiful are also priorities.

Since 2011, a Proven P11 six-kilowatt wind turbine has operated with great success in all weather conditions at Urafirth, supplying electricity to the school and selling surplus to the grid. The school pioneered wind energy in Shetland education  a decade ago with a different model of wind turbine.

Shetland Islands Council told Power from the North that 34 schools in the isles are registered with the Eco Schools programme.  Nineteen of these have achieved the Green Flag status on at least one occasion.  As this is assessed every two years some have five 'flags'.  A further four schools have bronze or silver awards – which are stages before full flag status.  Nine are currently getting their paperwork together, although a number of these are probably at full flag status already.