Shetland windfarm - Viking Energy

[Njugle]

(Nuclear's not an option then AT?)

 

Any hoo, another potential downfall of the VE scheme is that it is so big the while tey are planning this behemoth all these other smaller windfarms are getting online. Biggest one in England opened yesterday according to the Rochdale observer:

http://www.rochdaleobserver.co.uk/news/s/1069214_controversial_windfarm_is_opened_on_moorland

(a mere 26 turbines)

By the time VE's plan is acceptable half the country will be covered in smaller schemes and everyone concerned will be less interested in capping transmission fees and subsidising the Shetland Mega Farm.

[ArabiaTerra]

Nuclear would have solved the problem if the government had had the guts to go for it in time, but as it is it will be at least 10 years before the first of the new stations come on-line and even then they are only planning enough to replace the existing stations (approximately 20% of demand). It will still have to form the backbone of our supply but thanks to the anti-nuclear luddites (sorry, lobby) and the governments pandering to them, this will be done with ageing reactors well past their retirement date instead of nice shiny new ones which will only increase the risk of accidents. Ironic isn't it?

 

As it is, we are locked into using fossil fuels for much longer than we should, which will make global warming worse. To offset this we are going to need every wind turbine we can get.

 

Add to this the fact that in order to change our transport from fossil fuels we will need a lot more electricity, either directly to power vehicles, or to make the hydrogen to power vehicles, there will always be a market for the VE power. Of that one thing I am absolutely sure.

 

By the time VE's plan is acceptable half the country will be covered in smaller schemes and everyone concerned will be less interested in capping transmission fees and subsidising the Shetland Mega Farm.

Aye, right. And don't you think there are just as many short-sighted, selfish nimby's in the rest of the UK who think their particular piece of back yard is the most precious place on earth?

 

The whole world is going to have to make sacrifices to save itself from the disaster we are blithely hurtling towards. How anyone can stand there and claim their particular part of the world is more important than everyone else's completely mystifies me and the arrogant selfishness of it sickens me.

[PJ of Hildisvik]

^^^^What percentage of the UK land area should be turned into Wind farms?, or should Shetland have as you once quoted 3000 turbines, to help stop Global Waming.

[PJ of Hildisvik]

Oh and by the way, VE type projects are only around because they are heavily subsidised with public money!!! It won't last forever.

[ArabiaTerra]

^^^^What percentage of the UK land area should be turned into Wind farms?, or should Shetland have as you once quoted 3000 turbines, to help stop Global Waming.

As much as is required to power the country of course. At least until the other, more discreet forms of power generation are technologically feasible. This is another thing that annoys me. All you anti's go on as if this windfarm is going to be there for evermore. It's not. The turbines are designed to last for 25 years, long enough to give us the time and money to replace them with tidal and wave power generation.

Oh and by the way, VE type projects are only around because they are heavily subsidised with public money!!! It won't last forever.

Yes it will or it will not be built. This is not a care home or leisure centre we're talking about here. It will pay that money back and make a substantial profit on top, so what's the problem?

 

Edit: 3000 turbines, eh, you've really been trawling through my posts. I think that was one of the first. Glad to see you're paying attention.

[PJ of Hildisvik]

When the farm has run it's course, and the turbines taken down etc, how do you then remove tens of thousands of tonnes of concrete turbine bases, roads, crane platforms etc and re-create a landscape that has taken thousands of years to develop?? This doesn't take into account the 1.4million cubic metres of rock removed from 9 giant quarries.

 

And what amount of profit will there be, and what should it be used on?

[Styumpie]

And what amount of profit will there be, and what should it be used on?

 

It should be given back to us.

[paulb]

the wind farm near rossendale was aposed just like ours and just like ours if the developer has the money and determination it will be built the antis have very little chance of stopping it. just delaying it and costing us more.

with the RAF now objecting to all the coastal farm sites it looks like were more likely than not to get it. i agree that the VE have gone very quite.

why cant each community have small turbine farms 3 or 4 in each area if built near a road it would save a lot of road building.

[Nigel Bridgman-Elliot]

Why wouldn't you just repair and replace if necessary the bits N pieces when they wear out ?

 

After all, the concrete parts, they have been designed to last hundreds of years haven't they.. ?

 

 

If you stop using them for wind power, perhaps they would be useful for some other purpose, maybe a moring spot for future airships.

[Carlos]

why cant each community have small turbine farms 3 or 4 in each area if built near a road it would save a lot of road building.

No reason they shouldn't.

 

I read not so long ago a village on the west coast of Scotland had got together and invested in a single large wind turbine, which they predicted would start making profit in something like 5 years I think it was.

 

Here the interest I've hard about has been more round the smaller islands and some local halls etc. I'd presume there might be more coming, if the government grants make a short term return possible.

 

Of course, for the greatest efficiency, the wind turbine still needs to be in a good location, which tends to mean on top of a hill. If you match total VE turbine numbers in scattered groups of 3 or 4 and put them on the tops of hills, you likely end up with a greater length of roads than VE have proposed.

If you settle for less MW and use it just for Shetland then things can be smaller, but you have more difficulties in balancing power supply and demand with no interconnector, if you have a decent % of Shetland's power coming from wind generation.

 

Lots of options, different balance of advantages and disadvantages in each.

[Muppet]

If you settle for less MW and use it just for Shetland then things can be smaller, but you have more difficulties in balancing power supply and demand with no interconnector, if you have a decent % of Shetland's power coming from wind generation.

 

 

I'm sure I heard or read a while ago, that somewhere about 20% of the total power that is required can be produced by wind for the reasons you said. Also that the existing turbines at Burradale are pretty much at that figure.

 

That being true, it would mean we can't have much more windpower provision without the interconnector.

[PJ of Hildisvik]

^^^^^The figure of 20% for Burradale is true, if they are working non stop 365 days a year in perfect conditions at their optimum potential. In reality this can never happen, so the out put is less than 20%.

[paulb]

that would be true if you used them for just electric generation but by using them for storage heating there would be no limit. it would cost more in cables but as each scheme would be local say upto 5 miles not over the top.

http://www.baydonmeadow.co.uk/

each of these does about 600 houses. we have 9500 so we would need about 15-20. this would expensive but not over the top.

[PJ of Hildisvik]

Shetlands peak winter output is around 50MW .So in theory it would only need 14 turbines as in the proposed windfarm at 3.6 MW each to power us.

And in theory there is no need for a new power station, because Sullom Voe has gas turbine capacity to power the whole of Shetland, let alone being used as a back up for when the blades aren't spinning. And no need for an interconnector.

Or you could have 14 Burradales.

Or just Sullom voe and no turbines, plus no huge financial risk to our oil funds.

The trouble is, the SIC have got into bed with the energy giants, so you can take your best guess where that is going to lead! How much oil revenue do we have now?, what might we have in 5/10years time??

[ArabiaTerra]

When the farm has run it's course, and the turbines taken down etc, how do you then remove tens of thousands of tonnes of concrete turbine bases...

You could dig it up, but I would imagine it would be much more practical to leave it where it is, a few more concrete slabs to add to the thousands left all over the islands by the army after the last war won't hurt anything. As for the roads and crane standings, it would just take some diggers and trucks to remove them. Then your precious peat could be re-instated and everyone would be happy.

 

And what amount of profit will there be, and what should it be used on?

Have you not read anything VE have published? They predict 18 million a year for the charitable trust, though given the rise in fuel prices, it could very well be considerably more and it could be used for whatever you want, it will be charitable trust money.

why cant each community have small turbine farms 3 or 4 in each area if built near a road it would save a lot of road building.

We won't need them with VE and the interconnect in place. Without VE we can't do that as the Burradale site is already producing all the power the Shetland Grid can cope with.

Shetlands peak winter output is around 50MW .So in theory it would only need 14 turbines as in the proposed windfarm at 3.6 MW each to power us.

And in theory there is no need for a new power station, because Sullom Voe has gas turbine capacity to power the whole of Shetland, let alone being used as a back up for when the blades aren't spinning. And no need for an interconnector.

Or you could have 14 Burradales.

Or just Sullom voe and no turbines, plus no huge financial risk to our oil funds.

The trouble is, the SIC have got into bed with the energy giants, so you can take your best guess where that is going to lead! How much oil revenue do we have now?, what might we have in 5/10years time??

You can't use Sullom Voe. It uses fossil fuels. And 14 Burradales? I thought you were opposed to windfarms?

 

About the financial risk. This is not some dodgy salmon farm which will have to compete in a global saturated market with subsidised Norwegian rivals. This is Power generation. There will always be a market and a growing one at that. Do you really expect energy prices to come down in the future? The windfarm will provide a far more secure and profitable use of our oil money than even leaving it in the casino of the market. I can't think of a safer investment we could make.

 

I can't remember offhand how much we lost during the recent market fiasco, but it was in the tens of millions and a significant percentage of our total reserves, surely windfarms that actually generate cash would be a better investment?