Windfarm for Hoy?

By theorkneynews on May 2, 2018 • ( 1 Comment )

At a public meeting on Hoy , Leader of the council James Stockan announced that a large scale windfarm could be on the cards for the island on land to the west of Lyness.

James Stockan said:

“We are taking an enterprising approach to tackling the considerable financial challenges we face. It would be remiss of us if we failed to fully explore a project of this kind, which could be of enormous benefit to Orkney.

“By identifying a potential site, we have now reached a significant milestone. This is why we wanted to give the local community the first opportunity to hear and ask questions about the project and what happens next.”

Last year, the Council invited landowners in Orkney to put forward suitable sites for a large scale wind farm.

The site the Council plans to look at in more detail lies to the south of Wee Fea, the hill behind Lyness which contains underground wartime oil tanks. The landowner has consented to investigation work being carried out.

Councillor Stockan said:

“A large scale wind farm could make a major contribution towards helping the Council to preserve and enhance key services people value and depend upon.

“Importantly, it could also serve as a transformational source of funding for projects of great value to our community.

“The profits generated would remain in Orkney, for the good of Orkney – supporting initiatives that boost the social and economic wellbeing of the county. This would occur during the lifetime of the wind farm.

“It is important to stress, however, that there are many stages to go through before a decision is taken on whether the project goes ahead and in what form.”

Up to 30 wind turbines could be erected on the proposed site each of 3 to 3.5 megawatt (MW) capacity. The wind farm would have the capacity to generate more than 50 MW of electricity. It will all depend on additional grid capacity. Orkney SSEN Infrastructure Project