Recent Events
New data appears on a regular basis and milestones in 2007-11 include the following.
In February 2007 the commissioning of the Braes of Doune wind farm took the UK renewables installed capacity up to 2 GW. Total Scottish capacity at October 2007 was 1.13 GW from 760 turbines and increased to 1.3 GW by September 2008 and 1.48 GW by August 2009.
Also during 2007 Scottish and Southern Energy plc in conjunction with the University of Strathclyde began the implementation of a 'Regional Power Zone' in the Orkney archipelago. This ground-breaking scheme (that may be the first of its kind in the world) involves 'active network management' that will make better use of the existing infrastructure and allow a further 15MW of new 'non-firm generation' output from renewables onto the network. Heat and Power Ltd. of Westray are involved in developing an innovative digestor system that is being trialled at Tuquoy farm. Designed by Sam Harcus and Colin Risbridger, it is capable of handling up to 1,500 tonnes of feedstock per annum. Scottish & Southern Energy have been asked to provide for an export capacity of 40kWe. The aim is to help move the farm towards being powered by 100% renewable energy.
In January 2008 it was reported that Professor Graeme Walker of the University of Abertay is leading a project aimed at using grain that is a by-product of whisky distilling as a biofuel. In February 2008 plans to build a 10MW prototype tidal energy plant in the Pentland Firth were announced by Tocardo Tidal Energy Ltd. of Wick. Production was expected to commence in 2009. The following September, Scottish Power announced plans for two tidal projects in the same area, pending successful tests of a £6 million prototype.
In January 2009 the government announced the launch of a "Marine Spatial Plan" to map the potential of the Pentland Firth and Orkney coasts and agreed to take part in a working group examining options for an offshore grid to connect renewable energy projects in the North Sea to on-shore national grids. The potential for such a scheme has been described as including acting as a "30 GW battery for Europe's clean energy".
In July 2009 Friends of the Earth, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, World Development Movement` and World Wildlife Fund published a study called "The Power of Scotland Renewed." This study claimed that the country could meet all its electricity needs by 2030 without the requirement for either nuclear or fossil fuel powered installations.
In April 2010 permission was granted for four new hydro schemes totaling 6.7 MW capacity in the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park.
Sea Energy Renewables Ltd was purchased by Spanish company Repsol in June 2010. This move paved the way for the Inch Cape 180 wind turbine project offshore from Dundee, scheduled for a 2018 completion. Work is not expected to start before 2015.
Read more about this topic: Renewable Energy In Scotland
Famous quotes containing the word events:
““The ideal reasoner,” he remarked, “would, when he had once been shown a single fact in all its bearings, deduce from it not only all the chain of events which led up to it but also all the results which would follow from it.””
—Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930)
“Reporters are not paid to operate in retrospect. Because when news begins to solidify into current events and finally harden into history, it is the stories we didn’t write, the questions we didn’t ask that prove far, far more damaging than the ones we did.”
—Anna Quindlen (b. 1952)