Burradale wind farm owners build new 3MW turbine on former SSE site

A family-owned firm has erected a large wind turbine on a site in Shetland acquired from energy giant SSE.

 Shetland Aerogenerators, operators of the 15-year-old Burradale Wind Farm, one of the most productive in the world, has put up a 3MW Enercon machine at Luggie’s Knowe near Lerwick. The tower, generator and blade sections were lifted into place by a 750-tonne Liebherr crane with a reach of 85m. The crane was transported to Shetland by the German turbine manufacturer specially for the lift. Commissioning work and grid connection will follow.

 With a tip height of 121m, the Enercon E-82 E4 is Shetland’s largest so far. The Viking Energy project has planning approval for slightly larger 3.6MW machines. Shetland Aerogenerators took over the development from SSE. Commercial funding for the project was arranged with Lombard Finance.

 The power from the turbine will be exported through SSE's Active Network Management system, which was introduced as part of the NINES (Northern Isles New Energy Solutions) project. NINES is designed to let more renewable sources feed in to the local electricity grid.

 Shetland Aerogenerators managing director Angus Ward said:

“We originally thought the project could only be built out next year but thanks mainly to the goodwill of SSE we've been able to bring everything forward. “The Enercon is a highly sophisticated machine which will continue producing clean electricity even in high wind conditions.”

 Director David Thomson added that the civil works, including excavations, construction of the access road and pouring of the concrete base, had been very ably carried out by local firm Garriock Bros while Orkney firm Bryan J Rendall is doing the specialist electrical works.

 “It’s very exciting and satisfying to see the project, which we've been working on for the past year, come to fruition and now we can look forward to the commissioning phase.”

Base of new Bluemull Sound tidal turbine arrives in Unst.

The base of one of Nova Innovation's  100 kw tidal turbines, part of the 'Shetland Tidal Array' has arrived at Belmont in Unst. It will be sited in the fast-flowing waters of Bluemull Sound between the Shetland islands Unst and Yell, sitting alongside the world's first community-owned tidal turbine, installed by Nova last year for the North Yell Development Council. The blades of the entire five-turbine array are being manufactured by Lerwick company Shetland Composites.

UK Government windfarm subsidy change will not affect Shetland projects

The much-discussed change in subsidy provision for onshore windfarms will not affect major projects planned for Shetland, including Viking Energy.

Shetland Times stort here: http://www.shetlandtimes.co.uk/2015/06/18/renewable-subsidy-change-will-not-affect-isles

Supreme court decision "about building future for grandchildren" says isles energy group

The Supreme Court's rejection of Sustainable Shetland's appeal against the Viking Energy windfarm in Shetland could mark the creation of a whole new industrial sector for the isles, according to a local energy firm.

The Shetland company Energy Isles, which is developing a wind farm project in Unst and Yell, welcomed the decision to let the Viking Energy project proceed.

Reacting to the final judgement issued by the Supreme Court in London, chairman Paul Riddell said Viking would open the door to further renewables projects that would significantly benefit Shetland communities. 

“It’s very rare that an island community with a successful but fragile economy gets to create a whole new sector, but that is what Viking and the interconnector will enable Shetland to do,” he said.

“This judgement gives Energy Isles the potential to bring much-needed income and employment to those areas of Shetland like Unst and Yell which are simply not benefiting from the current economic good times.”

He added: “It’s also about looking ahead 20, 30, 40 years and trying to build a future for our children and grandchildren when the world we take for granted today will have changed dramatically.” 

Isles groups must be connected - call from industry

 Scottish Renewables has called for all three Scottish island groups to be connected to the mainland of Scotland as part of the development of the country's energy industry in the wake of the independence referendum.

Full story from Shetland News here: http://www.shetnews.co.uk/news/9357-industry-wants-isles-connected-by-2020

UK Prime Minister 'hopeful' of Westminster-Holyrood deal on subsea interconnector

UK Prime Minister David Cameron used to his visit to Shetland to state his hope for a deal between the Westminster and Holyrood Governments on a subsea electricity interconnector between Shetland the Scottish mainland, which would open up the isles' potential as a centre for renewable energy. Full story from Shetland News here http://www.shetnews.co.uk/news/8927-cameron-hopeful-of-deal-on-subsea-cable

Governments promise isles interconnector "irrespective of referendum result"

The Westminster and Holyrood governments have jointly committed themselves to connecting Shetland to the UK power grid, no matter what the result of the September referendum on Scottish independence.

At a meeting in Glasgow UK energy secretary Ed Davey and Scottish energy minister Fergus Ewing reaffirmed both governments' commitment to 'interconnectors' which would make major renewables projects on the isles viable. The total cost is likely to be around £1.5 billion. Shetland's connector alone will be about £600 million.

Full story from Shetland News here: http://www.shetnews.co.uk/news/8769-governments-make-grid-connection-top-priority

Isles could benefit from special wind farm classification

Shetland could benefit from UK Government proposals to classify renewable developments on Scottish island groups as a separate "technology group" to the rest of the onshore industry. 

Consultation has begun on new proposals which could shield Shetland, Orkney and the Western Isles projects from mainland competition for allocations under the 'Contracts for Difference' system.
Full story here: http://renews.biz/66477/island-wind-freed-from-mainland-rivalries/

Shetland "quite smart at avoiding busts and troughs"

BBC Scotland business and economy editor Douglas Fraser was in Shetland last week and has produced reports in various media on the busy and buoyant economy her found. He looked at oil and gas, renewables, decommissioning, new dimensions in the Shetland fiddle, and seafood

His BBC blog is here

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-26903854

The Business Scotland BBC Radio Scotland report is on iPlayer for seven days from broadcast (05/04/14) here

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03zqlz4

Seaweed energy? Shetland project could provide fuel for future

Cultivated Shetland seaweed could provide a fuel for the future both in the isles and as an export, according to a scientist from the North Atlantic Fisheries College (NAFC)Marine Centre in Scalloway.

 A Coastal Communities Fund grant of £290,000 has been awarded to the centre for a project aimed at developing local seaweed cultivation. 


Full story from The Shetland Times here. http://www.shetlandtimes.co.uk/2014/03/12/290000-to-develop-seaweed-growing/

Shetland and Orkney must be leaders in renewable energy - Carmichael

Scots Secretary and Northern Isles MP Alistair Carmichael has called for more to be done to ensure that Orkney and Shetland become international leaders in renewable energy. Report in Shetland News here.

Ofgem delays proposed changes to transmission charges

Plans to reduce transmission charges for renewables electricity schemes in remote parts of Scotland have been delayed. BBC story here

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-25404350

February and March dates set for Viking Energy appeal

Dates have now been set for hearing the Scottish Government's appeal against Lady Clark's Judicial Review of the granting of planning permission for the Viking Energy windfarm. Three judges in the Inner House of the Court of Session will hear the appeal between 25 and 28 February and again from 4 to 7 March 2014.

Full story from Shetland News here: http://www.shetnews.co.uk/news/7481-date-for-viking-wind-farm-appeal-set

Refreshed and updated Power From The North magazine now online and in print

A refreshed and updated version of Promote Shetland’s acclaimed Power From The North magazine has been published in print and online, timed to coincide with the Our Islands - Our Future conference in Orkney.

Power From The North showcases Shetland’s massive involvement in energy - both oil and gas and renewables such as wind, tidal and wave power. The enormous potential for development in all these areas is highlighted, from the fabrication of complex carbon fibre structures for wave power companies to the current oil and gas activity west of Shetland.

At a time when Shetland is seeing a boom in hydrocarbon-related activity, Power From The North is a timely reminder that the skills and resources developed in the isles since oil first came ashore can in the future be applied just as rewardingly in the renewables field.

“Shetland is a beautiful and wonderfully satisfying place for tourists to visit,” said Andy Steven of Promote Shetland. “But it is also a powerhouse for a range of industries in oil and gas and renewable electricity. It is crucial that we recognise the importance of this to the isles’ economic future. Power From The North is part of our strategic thinking, in partnership with local industry and other development agencies, on the areas of growth for Shetland over the next decade.”

The Power From The North project also includes this regularly updated blog and a Twitter feed.

Power From The North - the magazine: http://www.shetland.org/energy/shetland-energy-brochure-2013.pdf

Power From The North - the blog: http://powerfromthenorth.blogspot.co.uk/

Power From The North - on Twitter  @powernorth

Viking Energy welcomes Government pricing aid for isles electricity

The Government's announcement of a draft minimum price  of £115 per megawatt-hour for isles-generated renewable electricity is “a hugely positive step forwards”, according to Shetland windpower developer Viking Energy.

Full story from The Shetland News here.

£115 per MWh? Draft isles energy subsidy announcement

On the eve of both the Scottish Renewables Marine Conference and Exhibition in Inverness, and the Our Islands, Our Future event in Orkney, a draft minimum 'strike price' for renewable energy generated in the Scottish islands is announced by UK Government Energy Minister Ed Davey.

Full details from Shetland News 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

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.