Shetland windfarm - Viking Energy

[Styumpie]

Another option for the future years is producing hydrogen, I think in a few years after peak oil raises its ugly head, when our climate is rapidly changing for the worse, hydrogen will become a very very valuable commodity. We have the ideal means to produce it, and all without having to rely on an undersea cable. So I think energy production has a big future here in the isles, in one way or another.

[Guest Anonymous]

I see from the full page + of very well written letters in this weeks shetland times that opposition to the industrialisation of the shetland mainland for power generated by by wind turbines is growing at a phenomenal rate.

It is well worth reading each letter carefully.

I am glad to see the opposition against the proposed plan growing.

I am also pleased to see that there is still a general feeling that shetland should still strive to become carbon neutral within our own islands and that there is still a lot of scope for the good work the likes of viking energy and the pure project in unst have already done in trying to make shetland a world leader in green energy technology

[trout]

^^ There are some good letters also to be found on the Shetland-News website too.

 

Perhaps they are the same? I've not had a chance to purvey the local paper based media yet.

 

I was on the fence previous with a slanting towards exactly what is coming forward now from letters on that page. Lets see what happens with the "consultation" phase! Let's hope that it is entirely transparent too, that is my biggest fear! That it's not.

 

I think about the grand scheme of pumping in money to create a serviceable cargo route to Denmark ala fish farming disaster. The Bressay bridge debackle. The festering backwards saga .... the list goes on.

 

Is it any wonder that people are very very wary? Especially at the quoted figures to get the thing off the ground and what is for all intent purposes unsure figures moving forward.

 

To spin we are going to be the "Green" powerhouse of Scotland doesn't sit well with me at present!

[little hitchcock]

The Viking windfarm is continuously referred to as a "community project". I wonder how true that is. To me, Viking just looks like an ordinary commercial company that hopes to get a lot of public funding. More in particular, I have not seen any guarantees about the following issues:

 

1. elected directors: will the directors of Viking energy be elected by the Shetland community? or have they appointed themselves? for how long? If it is a limited company, I don't see how the community can sack them if they don't do their job well. They have appointed themselves and are in place untill they resign. There is no accountability to the Shetland public.

 

2. paid or unpaid directors: how much will the directors be paid?will this be made public? a limited company can change the salaries of its directors at any time without telling the public. The total amount paid to all the directors can be found (once a year) in the company's account, but there is no way to tell how much each director is paid.

 

3. freedom of information: public bodies have to disclose information to the press and the public. A limited company is not bound by this. Viking will not have to answer the questions of the press.

 

4. standards in public life: councillors and such people have to meet certain standards which are enforced by the Standards Commission: no cheating, no swearing, declaring an interest, ... Anybody can complain about a councillor if he does any of these things. However, directors of a limited company such as Viking do not have to meet these standards. The Standards Commission has no control over them.

 

5. audit commission for scotland: the same problem here. The Audit Commission, which looks independently at the accounts of councils and public bodies, cannot look at the accounts of a limited company like Viking. They can beg, borrow, buy, without the public knowing about it and without guarantee of best value for money spent.

 

6. profits ? at the moment, the council is giving Viking energy a lot of money. What will happen when the company makes a profit? who will it be for? again, as it is a normal commercial company, viking will be able to do whatever it wants with its profits. there is no guarantee whatsoever that the money will be spent wisely or to the benefit of the whole shetland community.

 

 

In short, it is not because two councillors are directors of viking energy that the company suddenly becomes a community project.

Nor is it because the council is funding Viking Energy that Viking Energy is a community project!

 

As things stand, Viking Energy is just another commercial company out to make a lot of profit with a lot of public subsidies! The only ones to benefit from it at the moment, are the directors.

[JustMe]

The more I think of this the less convinced I am that Viking Energy is going to work. I see no reason for a long interconnector to be laid from Shetland to the mainland when a much shorter cable is needed from Lewis and there are plenty of sites on the mainland that have good wind. Maybe not as good as Shetland but no need for a sub sea cable.

 

This is not to write off wind power completely. As long as the power station is there to offer backup there is no reason why we should not have electricity provided by the wind within Shetland and perhaps some sort of offshoot using cheap energy to grow year round salads, tomatoes, strawberries and so on might be good.

[humptygrumpty]

Hopefully the Shetland people would be entitled to some kind of discounted electricity prices when the windmills are on stream ? If not why not ? Or will it go like sullom voe did , we were going to have the cheapest fuel in britain , no more rates ect. Well we all know what happened with that.

[Peatcutter]

I have been following with interest the RSPB's hostile attitude to the Lewis Windfarm. This contrasts to their attitude to the Shetland one. I wonder if there is a connection between this and their cosy relationship with Scottish and Southern Energy ( RSPB Energy). The Lewis Windfarm project is backed by AMEC and is seen by people there as being in competition with the Shetland project.

Of course the RSPB deny any bias but are they not leaving themselves open to criticism for accepting cash from SSE and not objecting to the Shetland windfarm? Are Shetland birds expendable?

[ArabiaTerra]

The reason the RSPB is so wound up about the Lewis windfarm is that it is sited right in the middle of the "The Lewis Peatlands Special Protection Area (SPA)". As far as I know, the Shetland farm is not in any similar place.

 

Details here:

http://www.mwtlewis.org.uk/back.htm

[Fifi]

I posted similar on Jan 30th -

 

http://northmavine.proboards86.com/index.cgi?board=renewableenergy&action=display&thread=1169488610&page=4

 

"According to the Guardian today -

http://environment.guardian.co.uk/energy/story/0,,2001823,00.html - it appears that "a feud has broken out on a Scottish island with accusations of dirty tricks involving one of the country's largest charities, an energy adviser to Tony Blair and some of the biggest wind power developers. At the centre of the row is the RSPB, which is accused of taking a tough line against wind farms, except for one proposed by Scottish & Southern Energy (SSE), a company with which it has a commercial relationship."

 

The West Highland Free Press (WHFP) newspaper article - http://www.whfp.com/1813/top1.html - questions the financial relationship between the RSPB and Scottish and Southern Energy, who are partners in RSPB Energy. The RSPB receives payments of £20 for every customer who switches their energy supplier to the RSPB Energy brand. Interesting. I know charities need money to survive, but I don't think a bird charity and an energy company make particularly good bedfellows. It can make them open to the very criticisms which are now being made."

[Guest Anonymous]

The pro wind farm group have been very quiet in recent weeks and have not tried to give an answer back to any of the letters in the shetland times or the posts here.

Are they themselves starting to doubt whether a wind farm on this scale is the best way forward?

[Njugle]

I was visiting friends in the relevant area recently and had it pointed out to me that their view, beautiful, serene, dramatic and tranquil was soon to be filled with monster windmills. I'd have to say i am increasingly losing the "feel-good factor" of this scheme.

Secondly, as i think i've mentioned before, i want to hear what the British Ornithological Society think of the proposals in Shetland. The RSPB are fairly well known to be a more 'commercial' organisation.

[DavidThomson]

The pro wind farm group have been very quiet in recent weeks and have not tried to give an answer back to any of the letters in the shetland times or the posts here.

Are they themselves starting to doubt whether a wind farm on this scale is the best way forward?

 

No.

We have widely advertised that there will be a comprehensive consultation exercise in March and there will be. If we are quiet is it because we are busy preparing for that exercise.

We do not intend to advocate this project by means of responses to individual letters that appear in the newspapers.

Patience sir.

David

[Malachy]

The pro wind farm group have been very quiet in recent weeks and have not tried to give an answer back to any of the letters in the shetland times or the posts here.

Are they themselves starting to doubt whether a wind farm on this scale is the best way forward?

 

I have asked both the sides to clearly make their case, and respond to some of the claims and counterclaims going about, for the next issue of Shetland Life. It is out on the 2nd March.

 

Sorry about the blatant advertsing, but it is relevant.

[Freyr]

This is a hot topic over here as well. Norway does not use oil or gas to produce electricity. Almost all of it is hydroelectricity, but the power market was deregulated a couple of years ago. So now power companies export Norwegian electricity, draining water reservoirs and having to import electricity later. Guess that's whats makes them the most money.

 

There are a lot of projects for wind farms all over western and northern Norway, and some have been built. However a lot of the debate here is centered on the environmental impact of these windmills. They are most often placed on previously unspoilt nature. Disturbing unique natural features and biotopes. They actually are a big threat to endangered eagle populations and so forth. Nobody could have foreseen eagles actually flying into such a huge thing and getting themselves killed, but that's how it is.

 

People who are pro wind farms have argued they could become a tourist attraction. But I think most tourists who come to Norway or Shetland would like to see fjords and mountains without windmills and powerlines.

 

Maybe wavepower is the way to go?

[islandhopper]

Nobody could have foreseen eagles actually flying into such a huge thing and getting themselves killed, but that's how it is.

Not only eagles. There are strong indications from some areas in the east of Germany that it is quite simply a relation of the number of turbines and the size of birds. The bigger the number of turbines the more are the casualties among big birds. In some counties some estimated 50% of the population of the bigger birds of prey are hacked down within a 10 years time. Bigger migrating birds like swans, storchs, cranes seem to be affected in a similar way. One reason might be that smaller birds are "thrown" back by the turbulances around the turbines which might have a lesser impact on bigger birds.

 

But I think most tourists who come to Norway or Shetland would like to see fjords and mountains without windmills and powerlines.

From my German point of view that's absolutely correct. We can see it clearly from the reactions in the forums here. When the folks ask "what's worth to visit on Lewis?" they get the "stereotype" answer from all those who have already been there, "everything, but go now, before it is spoiled". Shetland - up to now - ist not yet on the agenda over here. Well, some cruiseship visitors may be attracted and have a bus tour through "the world biggest site" - but that's all of the "positive effects" on which you can count.