David Ross
Highland Correspondent
A CONTROVERSIAL giant windfarm which has finally been given approval will
not be built unless a 200 mile sub-sea connection links Shetland to the
mainland, according to the industry.
The UK Supreme Court has given consent to Viking Energy to build over 100
turbines on Shetland’s mainland after throwing out objections from local
campaigners.
But the area of internationally acclaimed beauty is not linked to the
National Grid.
Without a £300m sub-sea interconnector to power it, half a billion pounds
of investment, 140 construction jobs during construction and 35 permanent
jobs hang in the balance.
Michael Rieley, a senior policy manager at Scottish Renewables said that
while the islands hold some of the UK’s most powerful renewable energy
resource “what we lack is the ability to bring that power from Shetland,
Orkney or the Western Isles to population centres on the mainland where it
could be used.
“We urgently need to see a commitment to connect all our islands to the GB
electricity grid, which would allow them to contribute to the cleaning-up
of our energy sector, while benefitting from the jobs and investment that
would follow.”
He said that UK and Scottish governments had already said they were working
towards this, but the regulator Ofgem and Scottish Hydro Electric
Transmission Ltd the local transmission operator had to commit as well.
Meanwhile developers would also have to proceed with projects to produce
the electricity which would be transmitted making the interconnector
viable. Every step depended on the previous one being in place.
Thirteen of the 15 inhabited Shetland islands are on the electricity
network powered by Lerwick Power Station, backed up by Sullom Voe Terminal
Power Station.
After a series of legal challenges, which centred on claims Scottish
ministers ignored the risk to endangered birds, the court has given the
green light for Viking Energy to build over 100 turbines.
The turbines should be able to power in excess of 175,000 homes, which is
more than 16 times the total number of households on Shetland.
The development has always been predicated on there being a subsea
interconnector to take all the new green energy from Shetland, wave and
tidal as well as wind, to the national grid on the mainland.
It is how the developers will earn money , with the local community also
getting a cut. But the interconnector has been estimated to cost around
£300m.
Viking Energy Ltd, the company born of a partnership between Shetland
Islands Council and Scottish & Southern Energy (SSE), was delighted by the
Supreme Court’s decision.
Chairman Alan Bryce said: “We can now concentrate on developing what would
be one of the world’s most productive wind farms, to generate renewable
energy and significant income for the Shetland community.”
It could be around £30m a year for 20 years.
Energy Minister Fergus Ewing said the court’s decision now established the
case for connecting Shetland for the first time to the mainland national
grid, “paving the way for more exports and further renewable energy
opportunities for the islands, including community projects and marine
energy developments.”
He said he would continue to work with his UK Government counterpart Ed
Davey to ensure both governments delivered on the promises made at the
Scottish Islands Renewables Delivery Forum they co-chaired last month, “to
provide certainty on the support which Viking would be able to access when
built and to secure the necessary State Aid approval from the European
Commission.”
The Scottish Wild Land Group Shetland came third equal in a National
Geographic Traveller magazine rating of islands to visit worldwide. He
pointed out that Shetlanders’ have ‘extremely high integrity in all aspects
of heritage and ecology.’
In spite of the widespread opposition among Shetlanders and on the part of
the Council’s own planning officers, that reputation has surely now gone.
There is a real danger that no longer will visitors be attracted by the
natural unspoilt beauty of Shetland.”
Helen Todd, campaigns and policy manager of Ramblers Scotland said “The
proposed Viking windfarm is such a huge development that it will have major
impacts on the Shetland landscape and its wildlife, not to mention the
damage it will cause to its peatland habitats.”
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