Western Isles "no threat" in new energy stakes

The chairman of the Orkney Renewable Energy Forum, Dr Jon Side, has countered press reports that the Western Isles will become the energy capital of Europe, by asserting that Orkney will gain that distinction long before their sister island group, because of the existing experiments and research work being carried out here.

Dr Side listed the success of the new generation of wind turbines on Burgar Hill as examples of how Orkney was leading the field in wind power.

He explained that in terms of offshore wave development, the Pentland Firth could provide the biggest single resource for that, and clearly Orkney"s proximity to that stretch of water gave the islands a definite advantage over other areas.

He went on to highlight the onshore wave power experiments which were being trialled in Islay. Dr Side accepted that there were suitable sites for this type of energy production in Orkney and the Western Isles.

Dr Side emphasised that Orkney had much better access to the kind of infrastructure required to develop marine renewables in particular. He felt that Scapa Flow would provide a perfect sheltered harbour area for trying out devices before being put into place in more exposed sites elsewhere.

He said that the Renewable Energy Forum were taking every opportunity they could to promote Orkney as a centre for renewable energy, which he believed sooner or later would be accepted as the key to longer-term energy development.

Dr Side, of ICIT in Stromness, concluded that far from being left behind by the Western Isles in terms of renewable energy developments, Orkney was already ahead of them in the co-operation between the local authority, the renewable energy companies, and the researchers.