Letter Sustainable Shetland: I NOTE your article regarding remote island wind. Sustainable Shetland would like to respond to this article, and the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (DBEIS) press releases that prompted it, from the Shetland perspective. Scotland is set to enjoy a new renewable energy boom, according to your article, and islands like those in Shetland are ideal locations for the development of wind power “because of their natural stormy environments”. One might be forgiven for thinking that the writer of this article had his tongue in his cheek. Even the most ardent supporters of wind power will concede that not everyone in Scotland – or Shetland – will enjoy this apparent boom, and that stormy conditions mean more frequent shut-downs of wind turbines – and more prolonged construction periods and risk of peat slides. The vast cost of transmitting this intermittent power to the UK mainland is also less than ideal.
Herald 30th July 2018 read more »
