Five Sites Around Shetland Islands Identified for Offshore Wind Development

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources Europe (Galway, Ireland)--Five large areas of sea around Scotland's Shetland Islands have been identified for possible development between 2020 and 2030. Projects may even be fast-tracked before then, given the urgency with which the Scottish government is driving offshore wind power expansion.

The largest of the five areas currently earmarked around Shetland is N7, which is 1,074 square miles between Whalsay and Sumburgh; 670 square miles around the West Side and Eshaness, called N5; 482 square miles off Foula and Fitful Head, called N4; 186 square miles off the northeast end of Unst, called N8; and 138 square miles northwest of Yell, called N6.

These five areas are among 25 medium-term areas of search within 12 miles of Scotland's coast, which the Scottish government wants to see progressed from 2020 to 2030. Originally, there were 30 areas, including another two near Orkney, N2 and N3, that were removed due to a number of technical and environmental constraints assessed by Marine Scotland last year. N1 lies to the west of Orkney.

Previously, offshore windfarms have not been viewed as contenders for the waters around the Shetlands due to the depth, wild seas and the sheer cost of building and servicing arrays of huge turbines and sending their electricity to market. New technological developments in Hywind floating turbines are now paving the way toward making offshore wind a reality for Shetland. In Norway, Statoil has been testing Hywind floating turbines with pos¬sibly the world's first floating offshore windfarm being developed 12.5 miles off Aberdeenshire, Scotland.

The government's vision for the offshore windfarm industry is set out in "Blue Seas - Green Energy," a strategy document recently published by its agency Marine Scotland. The map of potential sites is the culmination of work done by The Offshore Wind Industry Group, which is co-chaired by the government and Scottish Power Renewables, which includes companies involved in windfarms like Vattenfall, Scottish and Southern Energy plc (LSE:SSE), Siemens (NYSE:SI), SeaEnergy and the Wood Group (LSE:WG). Further analysis will be undertaken to help select sites in each area and to liaise with affected parties. The key findings in relation to the North region, which comprises Shetland, Orkney and the north coast of Caithness, are that Shetland in particular has favorable conditions for offshore wind, but significant strategic issues in the area require attention, including the effects on fishing, shipping and the environment.

Six sites to be developed in the short term for offshore windfarms and which will go a long way toward fulfilling First Minister Alex Salmond's pledge to generate 100% of Scotland's electricity needs from renewables by 2020 include windfarms off Islay, Argyll and the Forth.

Scotland is estimated to have about one-quarter of Europe's offshore wind and tidal energy resources and about one-tenth of its wave power capacity. Mr Salmond believes that by 2020, Scotland will be producing twice the amount of electricity that it needs, with nearly half still coming from non-renewable power stations. The excess will be sold. Up to 10 gigawatts is now expected to come from the offshore windfarms planned around Scotland by 2020.

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