Energy / Student seeks views on Viking and community benefit
AN UNDERGRADUATE student from Manchester University, who is carrying out research on public perceptions of wind farms for his dissertation, is looking for views from islanders on the Viking Energy project.
Geography student Noah Rachel is hoping for as many responses as possible to his survey on the “impact of community benefits on wind farm perception patterns’.
He said the 103-turbine Viking wind farm, which started operation in August last year, is an “excellent example” to study of how “effective or not effective” community benefit schemes are.
“Throughout my time as a geography student, I have consistently been interested in the inadvertent side effects that green policies can introduce,” Rachel said.
“In this case, although wind farms look to support green energy, local people take the brunt of the challenges while others reap the rewards.
“This project is meant to provide clean energy and help with the UK’s net zero transition, however it has been quite controversial with the local residents of the Shetland Islands due to concerns over it being unsightly and damaging the land.
“Proximity and visibility suggest that individuals living closer to wind farms, or with frequent visual exposure, often express heightened concerns, with the inverse of this trend also being true.
“To reduce these concerns, wind farm companies may employ a series of strategies which often fall under the term of community benefits.
“I am investigating the effectiveness of community benefits on mitigating these proximity and visibility trends. As part of this I am trying to have get survey out to as many residents and local people as I can.”
The online survey can be found at: https://forms.gle/2dwhVqBxn7SakY4K8
Responses should be in by no later than the middle of March.
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