New Shetland Windfarm Could Power Nearly 500000 Homes
For the first time, electricity from the Shetland Isles is being sent to mainland Britain. This marks the start of operation for the UK’s most productive onshore wind farm.
The wind farm, called Viking, has 103 turbines and is capable of generating 443 megawatts (MW) of electricity. This amount of power is enough to supply nearly 500,000 homes.
Shetland is the windiest area in the UK, so the turbines will often be in use.
Alistair Phillips-Davies, the chief executive of SSE, told BBC News that the UK urgently needs to speed up the development of renewable energy projects to meet its climate goals. He emphasized the need for more projects like Viking and more offshore wind farms to help reduce carbon emissions from the energy system.
Critics of wind farms and the pylons needed to transport their electricity argue that these projects lead to a new wave of industrialization that could damage large areas of the British countryside for private profit.
To transport the power from the Viking wind farm, SSE has constructed a 160-mile undersea cable running from the Shetland Isles to Noss Head, near Wick on the Scottish mainland. The company has invested over £1 billion in both the wind farm and the cable project. SSE also plans to invest another £20 billion in renewable energy projects by the end of the decade. According to SSE’s chief executive, Alistair Phillips-Davies, this investment represents “the biggest construction effort since the Second World War.”
Phillips-Davies noted that Shetland has excellent wind resources and that Viking is just the beginning of a series of large wind farms planned for the area.
UK Energy Secretary Ed Miliband described the Viking project as “crucial” for reducing the country’s dependence on unstable fossil fuel markets. He said it would help boost energy independence and protect consumers. The Labour government aims for 100% of the UK’s electricity to come from renewable sources by 2030, and plans to phase out gas-fired power stations.
The government also promises to speed up the development of wind, hydrogen, and carbon capture technologies by investing £8.3 billion over five years in a new publicly-owned power company called Great British Energy. However, the Conservatives have criticized this plan, calling GB Energy a “financial black hole” that will use taxpayer money to reduce risks for major energy companies.
Miliband claims that the Viking wind farm will provide “cheap, homegrown energy” for hundreds of thousands of homes across the country, but this assertion is debated on the Shetland Isles.
Moraig Lyall, who chairs the environment and transport committee of Shetland Islands Council, said that despite the large amount of energy being generated by the Viking wind farm, local households are still struggling with very high energy bills. Annual bills in the Shetland Isles are often more than double the UK average of £1,700, and there’s no sign of these costs decreasing due to the wind farm. Lyall explained that people in Shetland look out their windows and see the turbines but don’t feel any benefit from the energy they produce. Many residents are frustrated because they are still facing difficult decisions about whether they can afford to heat their homes. Additionally, islanders are concerned about the wind farm’s impact on the landscape, the peat bog environment it affects, and local tourism.
There is also concern on the mainland. Some communities are opposing plans by SSE and other companies to build large pylons to carry electricity from new renewable energy projects to cities and towns across Scotland, England, and Wales.
Kate Matthews from Save Our Mearns, a group against SSE’s plans, said that the new pylons would lead to years of industrial development in Angus and Aberdeenshire. This includes ongoing construction, numerous applications for projects, and large areas dedicated to battery storage, solar panels, and hydrogen plants. Matthews believes this will drastically change the landscape and have long-term effects. She also warned that many parts of the UK, including Essex, Lincolnshire, Yorkshire, the Lake District, and Wales, are facing similar plans for new pylons, which could impact many communities.
Ministers have promised to change planning laws to make it easier and faster for large projects to get approval.
Alistair Phillips-Davies from SSE said these changes are crucial. He noted that it took 20 years for the Viking wind farm to go from the idea stage to having its turbines running, with 16 of those years spent just on paperwork.
Phillips-Davies is urging both the UK and Scottish governments to simplify and speed up the planning process so that projects can be approved or denied within 12 months. He also mentioned that the Berwick Bank project, which would be the world’s largest offshore wind farm, has been waiting for approval from the Scottish government for nearly two years.
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