News / Wheelhouse makes case for isles renewables
SCOTLAND’S energy minster is calling on the UK Government to ensure an “appropriate support mechanism” is put in place to ensure major renewable energy projects in Shetland, Orkney and the Western Isles can go ahead.
Paul Wheelhouse was due to meet his UK counterpart Greg Clark on Monday, with the pair co-chairing a fifth meeting of the Scottish Islands Renewables Delivery Forum in Stornoway.
A UK Government consultation on wind energy in the three island groups concluded on 31 January.
Northern Isles MP Alistair Carmichael said he was due to meet Clark when the House of Commons reopens following the Easter break, but he has received “no indication at all” of when any announcement might be forthcoming.
Wheelhouse said discussions in Stornoway would focus on a consultation which “backtracked on support for wind projects on the Western Isles, Orkney and Shetland” – with proposed projects alone having the potential to trigger investment worth £2.5 billion.
“Our position on island wind is both consistent and very clear – we must do all we can to enable our island communities to benefit from this substantial resource, large enough to meet five per cent of total UK electricity demand, provide significant boost to decarbonising our electricity supply, and would be worth up to £725 million to local economies,” the minister said.
“The planned projects on the Western and Shetland Isles would face extremely high locational transmission charges to provide electricity to the mainland.
“That is why an appropriate support mechanism is so important to help unlock very significant capital investment from the private sector and community-owned developers as well as, in turn, underpinning the investment case to National Grid for vital islands grid connections.
“Bringing this positive scenario about, as quickly as possible, will be at the heart of my discussions with Mr Clark.”
He added that responses to the UK Government consultation “show the case for supporting island wind projects is stronger than ever – our own submission was robust and credible”.
Last week Peel Energy announced outline new plans to build a 21-turbine windfarm on the outskirts of Lerwick.
That 49.9MW project – along with Viking Energy’s proposed 103-turbine windfarm and a looser plan from Energy Isles for a 150-200MW windfarm in Yell and Unst – hinges on an interconnector cable between Shetland and the UK mainland to transmit energy to the National Grid.
The renewables forum for the islands was formed due to concerns among developers and politicians about the higher charges that islands projects face to provide electricity to the grid compared to mainland power generators.
Large-scale onshore windfarms continue to split opinion among islanders, with some seeing the potential for major economic and ecological benefits and others claiming they will be visually and environmentally destructive.
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