Shetland windfarm - Viking Energy

[unlinkedstudent]

I am highly dubious of The Charitable Trust's claims; which banks? Have they named these banks? Have they stated the repayment period? Have they stated the APR (%)?

.

 

Here is a press release from the SCT. It doesn't mention APR but if I have time I will see if this has been made public.

 

http://www.shetlandcharitabletrust.co.uk/assets/files/SCT%20Press%20Release2%20-%20Lloyds%20Bank%20Presentation.pdf

 

Many thanks for posting this. What was the outcome of this meeting?

 

This really concerns me:-

 

"The estimated building costs for Viking Energy are £685m. Most of the costs would be

financed through loans from a mix of commercial banks and specialist infrastructure and

renewable funds. The security for the loans is taken against the project itself and would not

therefore put at risk any other Trust funds. Shetland Charitable Trust might have to raise

£62m to meet its share of the building costs – half of which would be borrowed and the

remainder raised by selling off existing investments. It is estimated that the profits returning

to the Shetland Charitable Trust from the Viking Energy wind farm might amount to £23m

each year for the lifetime of the wind farm.""

 

How can you secure a loan against the project itself? I've got a couple of theories but I need to research more.

[unlinkedstudent]

What do young people think about a renewable energy industry in Shetland? I notice from the photo at last night’s meeting that the average age appeared to be > 60.

Nothing wrong with being 60 – just that you will be dead soon.

 

 

Oy! I had Bettie, my shar pei with me - She might not be in the photograph but rest assured, I do NOT have as many wrinkles as her and I most definitely do NOT look 60 (Just ask Ghostie).

[Skyumpi]

I was at the meeting on Tuesday and commented as well on the average age of those attending. I don't know if that means that more of Shetland's young folk are in favour of the windfarm, don't care or just had more exciting things to do aboot da night.

 

Sorry to hark back to gearboxes, transformers and oil but here's a small extract from VE's environmental statement. Potential oil pollution is a bigger deal during construction and there are a quite a few special conditions to minimise it but this refers to the operational phase of the windfarm:

 

"Pollution

The potential risk of pollution to peat and groundwater during the operational phase is substantially lower than during construction because of the decreased levels of activity.

The majority of potential pollutants will have been removed upon completion of construction although the possibility will remain of leaks of turbine gearbox lubricants, transformer oils and fuel from maintenance vehicles.

Despite the reduction in the number of potential pollutants the magnitude of a pollution incident, without mitigation in place, is moderate. The implementation of the proposed pollution prevention plan will reduce the potential impact of a pollution incident to one of minor magnitude and of possible occurrence. Residues and emissions resulting from operation of the wind farm are expected to be negligible. With the probability of occurrence being unlikely the anticipated order of effect is minor for both peat and groundwater."

 

I haven't yet been able to find out what the mitigation they intend to employ is. I think I'll give up with it though. Light turbine or transformer oil is bad but, truthfully, there is only a small potential for a significant spill. Chances are the hill would swallow it up. It pales into insignificance alongside the carnage that construction will wreak. Kinda tears my heart out thinking about it.

[bug]

Here's a thought:

 

If the Charitable Trust (our representatives) ....

 

hold c. £200 Million of our money on our behalf.....

 

..and can dispose of it (with due process and considered debate) on our behalf....

 

surely on Monday 16th we (all c. 22000 of us) could ask for a c. £9000 drawdown each....

 

then each one of us could decide how and where we would invest our money...

 

Win-Win(d)

 

[shetlandpeat]

As it is public money, each of you would have to submit firstly a bid, then would have to evidence that the money was spent on what you asked for it for and then pay auditors/accountants/banks/a panel to admin the whole thing.

[NewMagnie]

Here's a thought:

 

If the Charitable Trust (our representatives) ....

 

 

See, that's the thing Bug, they're not your representatives.

 

They're not elected, they're appointed. You or I have no say in that. Trust law specifies that the only obligation a trustee has is to the trust deed (I'm sure the barrack room lawyers among us will have fun with that, but that's the gist of the thing)

 

Now, the trust deed might specify that they do great things for and on behalf of the Shetland population, but make no mistake, they're not representatives.

 

But I think Jonathan Wills is working on that....

[GT]

I haven't yet been able to find out what the mitigation they intend to employ is. I think I'll give up with it though. Light turbine or transformer oil is bad but, truthfully, there is only a small potential for a significant spill. Chances are the hill would swallow it up. It pales into insignificance alongside the carnage that construction will wreak. Kinda tears my heart out thinking about it.

 

Unlike soil, blanket bog (peat) cannot absorb oil because it is 98% water. Water falling on our peat covered hills flows down slope through the surface vegetation or through small underground tunnels (peat-pipes). This water accumulates in burns and is carried into the voes.

Oil and water cannot mix so almost all the oil sprayed on to the hillsides is carried by the water and accumulated into the lochs or voes – the reason you can’t find what the mitigation plans is, is because they don’t have one.

[paulb]

i agree that a spill of any oil would be bad. but the lochs near the roads are not dead because of run off from the roads.

 

anyway this is a very intresting article if it was to happen i guess we would be a landing spot for it

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/volcano-power-talks-fuel-britain-230545040.html

[Dratsy]

hydraulic fluid is highly refined, highly corrosive and highly toxic and not one to be messing with.

I'm swallowed a few moothfulls o petrol and diesel in me time but be damned if I wid try an syphon hydraulic oil.

[Osla]

What do young people think about a renewable energy industry in Shetland? I notice from the photo at last night’s meeting that the average age appeared to be > 60.

Nothing wrong with being 60 – just that you will be dead soon.

 

Hey I tak exception tae dat! I wis at da meeting, I hae a grey head but I am a piece fae 60 an hopefully no going tae die soon! As fur young fok - at da moment dey live fae weekend tae weekend but it is only when dey mature a bit and realise whit dey are going tae loss dat dey might waken up and hopefully no be surrounded by turbines!! I have bairns and grandbairns and I am concerned for da future for dem - I dinna want a place I love being ruined for da benefit o a few folk dat dinna live near ony turbines - I winna be sitting looking at dem or hearing dem and I dinna want onybody else to have tae suffer it either!

[paulb]

as the goverment are having talks with iceland to link in with there geothermal power we may have more than one interconnector comming to shetland. won't that be intresting.

[orkneypaul]

From an engineering point of view would we not be better sitting back for ten years and see how the new innovations in turbines pan out (the oil and gas is no going to dry up in that time). We were going to use 3.6s but now we are speaking about 4+ totally untried and un tested for any length of time.

There is lots of new innovations out there especially the direct drive units so as we are not really skint (and not likely to be so for a long time ) I think from an engineer’s point of view let everybody spend their money and watch what happens.

[stilldellin]

^ Absolutely, what is the point in installing all this obsolete hellery for a mere 25 years !

[Grafter]

This is the full determination by Scottish Ministers . Basically says that all the negative environmental concerns are outweighed by the economic argument. Its all about the money.

 

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/0039/00391076.pdf

[Ghostrider]

^^ and all about the Nats having an absurd 100% "green" electricity by 2020 policy, and us being an out of sight out of mind rock that they can use and abuse any way they like at no cost to them. If it works, they tick off x% of that 100%, it goes tits up, its not their problem or care.