Viewpoint / ‘Exploited by a large multi-national, aided by a council that failed to take account of local concerns’
As the Viking Energy wind farm and interconnector are officially activated, retired teacher Frank Hay, the chair of Sustainable Shetland – the campaign group that has been opposing the wind farm project for more than 15 years – reflects on how this was achieved and at what cost.
AFTER MORE than 20 years of discussion and planning we now have the predicted industrialisation of a significant area of the Central Mainland of Shetland. Many in the community did not think that this would ever happen due to the cost and logistical issues involved.
However, they failed to appreciate just how determined SSE would be in their quest to make the most of opportunities arising from the drive for more and more renewables, especially wind power, by successive governments. The SIC welcoming them with open arms and entering into partnership agreement added to the attractiveness of working to develop wind farms on Shetland.
The formation of Sustainable Shetland by a determined group of locals opposed to Viking Energy was predictable since almost everywhere large wind farms are proposed a group of this kind is set up.
Almost inevitably, a confrontational situation developed with a wind farm supporters’ group also being formed. Divisions in communities were created and unpleasantness was evident in exchanges between the pro and anti groups.
As the project moved through the planning process a public inquiry was anticipated. Unfortunately, the Scottish Government’s energy minister Fergus Ewing decided to approve the application without calling for one.
This failure to call for a public inquiry was the catalyst for the legal action which followed.
With hindsight, the legal action against the decision was never likely to succeed in the long run although there was a false dawn when at first Lady Clark ruled in Sustainable Shetland’s favour. It is perhaps a flaw in planning system that while developers can appeal unfavourable decisions, local objectors have no such rights.
It is important to note that, even with the legal action, the project was moving on. The then chairman of Viking Energy was quoted as saying “business as usual”.
However, the project still had a number of hurdles to overcome. After the 2015 Supreme Court ruling in Viking’s favour attention turned towards subsidies and the provision of an inter-connector from mainland Scotland to Shetland.
The government provided assistance on the subsidy front by creating a special category of Remote Island Wind, with higher subsidy provision than that for onshore wind, for subsequent CfD subsidy auctions.
When Viking decided that larger turbines would be better economically and lodged a new planning application the planning process was repeated.
Again, the SIC could have lodged an objection but this group of councillors were no better than their predecessors and raised no objections. The Scottish Government duly approved the application.
With most planning consents in place the Shetland Charitable Trust then had to decide whether or not to invest further in Viking. By this time there was no longer SIC involvement in its governance. After taking financial advice SCT decided not to invest further in Viking.
This meant that SSE took complete control of the project, probably as they had anticipated. It is important to note that Sustainable Shetland played no part in this decision, contrary to accusations from some people, including ex-councillors, perhaps looking for a scapegoat for their failed ambitions.
Following the approval from Ofgem, who appear to have a close relationship with SSE, for an interconnector to Shetland, construction started. This has continued apace until work has been largely completed this year. Ofgem still have to approve the expenditure for the grid upgrades on Shetland and the Battery Park. However, that is likely to be a mere formality as construction is already well underway.
So where are we now? Over £1.5 billion will have been spent by the time that Lerwick Power Station is switched to standby mode. In spite of the fact that the wind farm was approved on the understanding that LPS would have to close it is still very much alive with new engines and is an essential part of the energy solution for Shetland, even if only in standby mode.
This part of the energy transition has come at vast expense, ultimately for energy consumers. Security of supply has definitely not been enhanced. As far as “saving the planet” is concerned, the Viking wind farm may well have a negative impact.
We now have a very large wind farm which has already turned out to be much as we feared; it is grossly out of scale to the surrounding landscape with many obvious impacts.
Varying noise issues, depending on weather conditions, are already apparent. There are still health worries for those people living closest to the wind farm and it remains to be seen what happens with that.
We have the farcical situation of constraint payments when the grid on mainland UK cannot accommodate the power from Viking. SSE clearly anticipated the benefits of the constraint system for them and were well aware of the limitations of the grid on the mainland.
The overwhelming feeling is that we have been exploited by a large multi-national company aided by a council who has failed miserably to take account of the concerns of local people whose lives are most affected by the wind farm or ensured that the best possible deal is extracted from developers.
Sadly, there is little sign of any change in attitude to proposed new developments by our current council.
