Shetland windfarm - Viking Energy

[islandhopper]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBrYJKCQ72g

 

This is the Enercon E-126, the first wind turbine with 6 MW rated power, rotor diameter: 126m (413ft), hub height: 135m(450ft).

 

Think about the hills full of these monsters...

 

Apologies if this has already been posted.

Most of the images - if not all - were taken, when they built the first of these turbines in the Hamburg harbour area.

It might be interesting to concentrate on the activities which took place on the ground only ... and from that to calculate how much ground space they actual will need to errect the turbines ... and how big the areas have to be, where they have to cut the peat down to the solid rock to find a proper stand for their cranes and other equipment ...

[Kavi Ugl]

http://www.hansebube.de/kraga2/cc9800sarens_2/start.html

[Graeme_Storey]

http://www.hansebube.de/kraga2/cc9800sarens_2/start.html

 

Oh my goodness!!

 

BIG mess on the ground......

[stilldellin]

and then this :- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppLh5pGX3qQ&feature=related

Doot Wisharts worries only starting !

[paulb]

look at what is there it looks like an old shunting yard. find a photo before the build.

the fire clip is just that a single turbine fire. they will have insurance and im sure they will maintain them well.

 

whats the scaremongering for. the scottish goverment will either ok it or reject it. if your all that bothered its time to line up for the next council elections and oppose those council members. you could even stand against tavis scott. after all it could be an easy win against the lib dems. i know i will be looking at a diffrent person to vote for.

[Breiwick123]

Thanks for invite AT

 

9 councillors voted for their own project.

 

9 councillors will now have to justify their actions to the Standards Commission.

 

It's not very complicated.

 

If they had voted against, or abstained, they could reasonably argue they had managed to separate their personal interests as Councillors and as Trustees and owners of 90% of Viking Energy Limited.

 

Their recommendation to approve was based on who the applicant was, not planning law.

 

So Sustainable Shetland by not reporting all 12 councillors will deny the 3 that voted against the wind farm the opportunity to justify their actions to the Standards Commission, and clear their name.

An odd way to treat your friends.

[Kavi Ugl]

Not sure what happened.

 

http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?hl=en&sl=de&tl=en&u=http://www.noz.de/bildergalerien/50026707/130-meter-hoher-kran-stuerzt-in-loruper-windpark-um&rurl=translate.google.com&usg=ALkJrhgPnPEj28pgJKE_Xn_m2dUts_u7DA

[ArabiaTerra]

SSE are driven by their bottom line, and their business decisions likewise. I have little doubt that if, and for as long as their per £ investment return exceeds or at least equals their similar investments in the same sector, that they will be reasonable happy just to sit back and count the swelling numbers in their corportate coffers.

 

Certain facts are inescapable though, VE will be carrying the largest overheads of any of SSE's investments, overheads which cannot be mitigated, (a very long subsea cable to lay/maintain/repair/replace, greatest loss in transit due to length of said cable, probably the highest maintenance, repair and early replacement costs of the actual turbines themselves, due to our harsh climate/their extremely exposed location, etc).

 

Yes, we have more wind to offset, or at least help offset this. But the current profitability of wind farm's relies significantly on Government subsidies, which, as more and more renewable production comes online (or most efficent/reliable etc methods hit the market), will almost certain be reduced, if not eliminated altogether.

 

I forsee a point in the future, if things continue as they are, when wind produced electricty is approaching the max the grid can handle (or advancing technology has rendered windfarms obsolete), by which time subsidies will almost certain have vanished. That due to the higher running costs of VE, it goes from a very profitable venture, to one of, if not the poorest paying windfarm in the country. That is when SSE will care little about VE, and decide to use it for whatever they see fit, or simply run it in to the ground and vanish.

 

If proof can be provided that without any subsidy whatsoever, that VE is still a good paying investment, I'll buy that its possibly a good idea to build it. Without that proof all I see is something that possibly will be profitable, for as long as subsidies continue at their current level, then its a dead duck.

VE's figures of multi-millions have been very seductive, but they all include the subsidy element, what needs to be seen is those same figures worked up without "artificial profits" like subsidies included, as subsides by their nature are simply far too fickle to build a business plan on.

 

Show what the profitability of VE is purely on the basis of earned income vs. expenditure, and it'll be far clearer how a partner of the stature of SSE can be expected to behave. I'll put a tenner on the fact that SSE have already been over the figures less the subsidy element with a fine tooth comb, and have a plan drawn up of where they go with VE should the subsidy change at any time. Does the CT have any such plan, and if not, why not?

 

What's being proposed is possibly "okay" given the current state of play in the industry, but the art of creating a successful and profitable business plan is to factor in contingencies for future variants in market conditions, of that VE seem woefully lacking. Things will not stay exactly as they are, renewables are a fast moving sector at the moment, and their profitablity and the attitudes and stratagies of the main players in it will almost change immensely even within the next 5-10 years. The CE involvement in VE, IMHO is starting out from a position, from which they can only go downhill as time passes. That to me is wrong, they should be starting out from a position from which they can only grow and become more dominant. There is a total lack of future planning for VE on the part of the CT, a fact which does not surprise in the slightest, as future planning has been an alien concept to the SIC for at least a decade, so why would the same people, but with different hats on operate elsewise as a group elsewhere.

On the subject of subsidies:

 

I think what is more likely is that subsidies to fossil fuels will be reduced (Yes, they are massively subsidised). Moves are already afoot to bring this about.

 

The United States and many other countries around the world provide financial aid — in the form of both direct payments and tax breaks — to help produce oil, natural gas and other fuels that produce carbon dioxide, which has contributed to rapid climate change over the past half century. According to the Environmental Law Institute, the U.S. government provided $72 billion in subsidies to the fossil fuel industry between 2002 and 2008.

from here, and

 

EU coal mine subsidies to end in 2018

here.

[Grafter]

Grand night for wind turbines tonight!

Again, hardly any wind anywhere in the country and bitterly cold.

An energy strategy with wind energy as a major player is surely doomed to failure.

[ArabiaTerra]

^^^^ Yeah, 'cos it is physically impossible to run a cable under the sea to import power when the wind doesn't blow, physically impossible I tell ya!

 

No, wait a minute...

 

Sheesh!

[shetlandpeat]

Grand night for wind turbines tonight!

Again, hardly any wind anywhere in the country and bitterly cold.

An energy strategy with wind energy as a major player is surely doomed to failure.

 

I get the feeling they may also keep the diesel gennies for a while too.

 

Someone also said the criminals are going to spin them and brought to the job under penal servitude when the wind don't blow, so they are gonna have to build a prison camp for them.

[stilldellin]

Yep, not a lot of output when I passed by Burradale yesterday. I wonder what the figures are for this year in comparison with previous years. Anyone know if these figures are available on line ?

[PJ of Hildisvik]

Yep, turbines are really efficient when the wind don,t blow, or blows too much

 

And how long has the turbine been off line at Burradale this time around/

Another gearbox imploded due to Shetland's perfect wind regime?

How many gear boxes is it now, any figures anybody?

And how much to replace one?

 

Better still, how much for a gear box on a 3.6 MW turbine??

[paulb]

pj they may not have them the modern smaller ones have got rid of the need for them

[MuckleJoannie]

Grand night for wind turbines tonight!

Again, hardly any wind anywhere in the country and bitterly cold.

An energy strategy with wind energy as a major player is surely doomed to failure.

 

The scheme between SSE and SHEAP to use windpower to heat water for the district heating scheme is the logical answer to that.