Ofgem approves interconnector cable plans
Ryan Nicolson
Ofgem has approved plans for a 600MW subsea interconnector cable to the mainland, paving the way for the 103-turbine Viking Energy windfarm.
The energy regulator has approved the plans after a consultation earlier this year, and said they will proceed with the cable on the condition that they are “satisified” by the end of this year that the project will go ahead.
Ofgem said they “consider this decision to be in the interests of existing and future GB consumers”.
They admitted that the majority of the responses to their public consultation, held after they announced they were “minded-to” accept the plans earlier this year, were negative.
The company say they will address the concerns of those that responded negatively to the consultation by the end of July.
The news comes almost a month after SSE Renewables announced they would be pledging £580 million to the project.
George Herraghty
The question the gullible never ask:
If ‘renewables’ are so great for the environment, why do they keep destroying it?
Alastair Ball
They took all the trees
Put them in a tree museum
And they charged all the people
A dollar and a half to see ’em
Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you’ve got
‘Til it’s gone
They paved paradise
Put up a parking lot
Verse 2 Big Yellow Taxi Joni Mitchell
James Boyle
Yes, Joni’s message was relevant 50 years ago and DDT was indeed banned. But today’s major problem is global warming; replacing fossil fuels with renewables is now a necessity, not an option. I regularly walk at Whitelees wind farm in Ayrshire. It’s a beautiful awesome place.
John Tulloch
In that case, Shetland has a population of 23,000 and the Central Belt around 4 million. So why should Shetland cancel its carbon footprint 10 times over to compensate for CB emissions?
If “today’s major problem is global warming” then need another 150+ Whitelee wind farms in the CB to contribute the same as is being imposed on Shetlanders.
So, with respect, don’t you think you’re preaching your ‘green gospel’ to the wrong congregation?
Alastair Ball
Interesting comment, so it is ok to destroy an area of outstanding beauty, diverse wildlife so that the stakeholders in a company can get their dividends. It’s ok for climate change advocates to say that it is irrelevant to pour the concrete and destroy the environment. How times have changed. Maybe you should be charged a buck fifty to see these statues to environmental vandals.
ali Inkster
But you don’t live in the middle of it
George Herraghty
A slight problem:
The new documentary, “Planet of the Humans”, released free to the public on YouTube to mark the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day, reveals that industrial wind farms, solar farms, biomass, and biofuels are ALL wrecking natural environments.
ALL so-called ‘Green energy’ schemes are in fact INCREASING CO2 emissions, INCREASING the use of fossil fuels and VASTLY INCREASING the mining, processing and consumption of the Earth’s dwindling raw materials.
“The idiocy in all of this”
“Everywhere I encountered green energy, it wasn’t green energy”
Planet of the Humans: Michael Moore
planetofthehumans.com
David Spence
It will be interesting to hear what tourists think of Shetland after Viking Energy is up and running? Will it be a positive response or ‘ I would not bother visting Shetland, it is full of wind turbines. The beauty has been destroyed. ‘
How much will the people of Shetland save in terms of power consumption and cost after Viking Energy? I very much suspect the cost will go up with SSE using the excuse, ‘ We have to pay for our investment somehow? ‘. I predict the cost of living on the islands will go up considerably, and we, the people of Shetland, will not benefit at all from this project (except the very, very few).
As well as this, the permanent cost of maintenance, how much will this be per year and who will pay for it, long term?
Would it not be cheaper to lay down a power cable from Shetland to mainland Scotland, and give Shetlanders the opportunity to gain cheaper power through market competition?
Will the council, as an investor, increase rent and rates to cover this extra cost or will it cut what services it does?
George Herraghty
Effect of Turbines on Tourism
In a recent survey, with over 500 people responding, over 80 per cent of them cited unspoilt countryside as what attracted them to the Highlands.
Over 70 per cent of respondents said the presence of wind turbines would affect their decision to stay in the Highlands, with about the same number saying the presence of the over 500 wind turbines currently planned for the Loch Ness area would affect their decision to stay there.
Over 80 per cent said they would not choose accommodation with a view of a wind farm, with about the same number reckoning the presence of turbines made Scotland less attractive to tourists.
STAG Genurquhart