Shetland windfarm - Viking Energy

[Pooks]

its bradford. who cares

 

Perhaps the people that live there? Have relatives there? I am sure that if I said, "It's only fat people. Who cares?", you might find it a little harsh.

 

Back to the topic. I haven't heard much from Viking recently (perhaps I have been taking a blinkered approach). Anybody have any updates as to the progress recently?

[paulb]

lot of fat people in bradford. no relation to our turbines. to get consent that close to houses there must be little noise. the planners would not have oked it else. so if they can build there whats the problem here. would not of thought bradford would have been very good i thought it was in a dip. some of the old factory chimneys must be that size. is there not a big wind farm on the north east coast next to a lot of houses.

[Carlos]

how about a road/causeway with turbines across yell sound.

Tidal power is something we should be looking at, but causewaying Yell Sound is another thing......

2.5km wide and 50m deep water..... the envelope says that's likely getting up to around 50 million tonnes of rock......

[crofter]

2.5km wide and 50m deep water..... the envelope says that's likely getting up to around 50 million tonnes of rock......

 

How much does Fetlar weigh?

[Njugle]

^

 

 

Nivver spik!

[Salmon]

(** MOD EDIT ** Title altered from "Undersea Electric Cable & Renewable Energy" to be more reflective of proposed windfarm project)

 

We've heard some of the pros for such a cable - as in it making the proposed 600MW wind power scheme the largest community-backed wind farm development in Europe and a potential reality!

 

Would anyone care to throw into the mix some of the cons against it:

 

Out to you guys ....

 

Shetland folk will be suckered into another deal where we are the losers.....we will have the eyesores and the mainland will syphon of the power benefits ...oh.... and the wise guys that set up the Shetland side of the operation will also benefit but not the average Shetlander.

[paulb]

there are some islands in yell sound linking them up would not be 2.5km. whats the cost of maintaing the ferry service. this link is needed before bressays tunnel.

[Carlos]

Yup, if you take the shortest route across you end up with one 1km and one 1.2km crossing over water, and some little distance I can't remember over the island.

 

2.5km is about right if you were going to bridge it, but the cost of doing that is huge money..... I think a 1km bridge would still make the top 20 longest spans in the world, 1.2km would be more like top 10.

 

Ferry services as they are run at the moment do cost a lot, and do put restrictions on the isles, but a tunnel is the only remotely feasible way to put a fixed link between Yell or Whalsay and the mainland.

[Styumpie]

Shetland folk will be suckered into another deal where we are the losers.....we will have the eyesores and the mainland will syphon of the power benefits ...oh.... and the wise guys that set up the Shetland side of the operation will also benefit but not the average Shetlander.

 

Yes in reality that is exactly what WILL happen.

 

 

I will say, while I'm here, that though I'm an enthusiastic supporter of the windfarm, there are a few things I'd like to see done differently, for instance:

 

1. The interconnect cable should be at least twice and preferably three or four times the capacity required for the VE proposal. This would mean that once the wave and, more importantly, the tidal power generating systems are ready for large scale deployment, they can be deployed straight away and the cable will be sitting there ready for them. This should not be too expensive as, as far as I know, the main cost of the cable is the laying, not the cable itself.

 

2. Shetland will use a small fraction of the power generated from the windfarm, and the power will be 'green' anyway, so I see no reason why Shetland should not get cheaper power. Say half of the cost of the mainland power.

 

3. I would also like to see some sort of dividend payment to all Shetland households on an annual basis. Something akin to what they have in Alaska for the oil revenue. And this scheme should be independent of the VE proposal so that any further large scale generating projects such as wave or tidal could be incorporated into it.

 

What do you think?

 

 

Your points are entirely sensible, I 100% agree with them. Point 2, I think we should aim a bit higher say 10% of mainland UK prices, after all it is our capital that is being risked here. But we will have one hell of a fight ahead of us if we want to gain these benefits.

 

The council will staunchly oppose ideas like these because they want to dictate how the money is spent, mainly so it benefits SIC employees, and secures the future of all the loss making SIC ventures we now have scattered all over the isles. They will not want to give up power and put it in the hands of the locals.

 

Cheaper energy has many benefits, not only for the people but for industrys and business which in turn will make our economy stronger and less addicted to public funding which will help secure our future and keep us competitive.

 

Viking, SSE and the council are all in this together so I think they will all stand by each other on these issues.

 

If we could get a consensus on the terms and gain strong support from the people/business here, we could take control over the profits and probably be successful in doing so, thus giving them the support they need for the project only if the project meets our strict terms and conditions. That is the only way people are going to want this windfarm, if they themselves personally can reap some of the rewards for better standard of life, and can see the money will help our economy become more sustainable in the long term.

[eastendpar]

Whilst the talk over a windfarm that pollutes the scenery, rivers and kills the wildlife goes on the renewables debate and community based electricity generation moves on

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/new-small-transportable-nuclear-battery/story.aspx?guid=%7BAFBD53C1-54CE-4ECB-B5FB-9D140454B2AF%7D&dist=hppr

There a number of training reactors in cities in Britain and they have been operating safely for many years, generally in a university environment with no problems. So why bother with inefficient windfarms that our descendants will regret.

[paulb]

err no. if folks are upset about wind turbines. can you imagine the posts you would get over atomic power.

[ArabiaTerra]

A great idea, until some terrorists nick one, strap some explosives to it, load it onto a light aircraft and detonate it 10,00 feet above a major city. I think I'd rather we stuck to the normal type of reactor.

[Njugle]

I seem to recall that in the break-up of the USSR a fair number of nuclear suitcase bombs, as they were dubbed, were unaccounted for. There were 100+ developed but i think the location of only 80+ was known. But that's a subject for another thread.

 

Unless of course the question is which would you prefer......and i'd probably have to opt for nuclear.

 

Anyway, here's a fresh approach to windfarm development. Community investment paying for a windfarm directly:

 

Press&Journal[/url]"]INVESTORS have raised nearly £1.3million towards a stake in a Highland windfarm – more than five times the windfarm company’s target.

 

The Great Glen Energy Co-op was formed to give local people the chance to own a stake in the 16-turbine Millennium windfarm at Glenmoriston.

 

The group originally aimed to raise a minimum of £250,000 from shares costing £1 each, but such was the interest from locals that the final total stands at £1,288,270.

[PJ of Hildisvik]

The energy companies eyes lit up when the council offered the people of Shetland's oil money as collateral, on an Enviromental nightmare of an idea that Shetland will regret for ever.

[Nigel Bridgman-Elliot]

If geothermal (GEOHIL for example.) technology could be employed to solve the problem instead, would that be more welcomed ?