The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
ISLE TO GET 24 HOUR POWER
Development: Fair Isle electricity scheme progressing after securing funds
A small island between Orkney and Shetland is on course to enjoy a 24hour electricity supply for the first time by the end of September.
Work is progressing well on Fair Isle’s new electricity scheme after the community group Fair Isle Electricity Company secured its full £2.65million funding package last year.
The three-mile long island has used a combination of wind and diesel power since the 1980s, but it is presently lights out between 11pm and 7am on nights when there is
“Everything is on schedule, and everything is looking good”
no wind. A spokeswoman for the National Trust for Scotland, which owns the remote island, said Fair Isle would not be the last place in the UK to get 24hour electricity as Canna, which they also own, in the in the Inner Hebrides is in the same situation.
The plan on Fair Isle will see the installation of three 60kW wind turbines, a 50kW solar array and battery storage, while it will also extend a high voltage network across the island.
Fair Isle Electricity Company director Robert Mitchell said the trench work has nearly been completed thanks to Aberdeen’s Chap Group, while electricians are currently undertaking alternations on properties prior to the new high voltage system being put in place.
He said: “We should, at the beginning of May, have the company coming up to build us the bases for the new three turbines.
“Everything is on schedule, and everything is looking good to be finished by the end of September.”
The project has received funding from the Scottish Government’s Low Carbon Infrastructure Transition Programme, Shetland Islands Council, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and the National Trust for Scotland.
Mr Mitchell said guaranteed 24-hour power could attract new businesses and residents to Fair Isle, which has a population of around 55.
He said that funding applications have been put in to rebuild some redundant housing on the island and connect them to the new electricity scheme, adding: “With a decent infrastructure we can look for sites on the island now to build houses and connect them to a system, whereas before there was no point in building new houses because we didn’t have any capacity to take them on,” he said.
“All that for the future will make a difference and should hopefully encourage people to come and live on the island.”