Group effort
Fiona Nichols reports on a number of community windpower projects taking place in the Highlands and Islands region
It is not just one of the windiest corners of the UK. Orkney has some of the highest wind speeds in Europe, averaging at over 7m per second. And it is not unknown for winds here to blow much faster than that. On a few occasions last year, the islands were assailed by blasts of up to 45m per second, and wind speeds of 50m per second were recorded a few years ago. This is extreme weather, but Orkney has begun to reap the benefits. Community windpower projects are reducing islanders’ carbon footprint as well as their energy bills.
Orkney is not the only area within the Highlands and Islands region to make the most of the elements. The Highlands and Islands Community Energy Company (HICEC) has seen the number of community windpower projects in the area increase hugely over the last four years. In that time, their team has grown from four to 15 and they have now assisted with more than 400 projects.
HICEC, whose role is to offer advice, grant funding and finance for renewable energy projects developed by community groups in their area, is currently receiving more than 50 new enquiries every week. HICEC manager Eric Dodd and his team are working with local communities on 30 large-scale projects at the moment and there are another 53 in the pipeline. “One of the most rewarding things for us is seeing our local communities develop their knowledge about renewables,” says Dodd. “To start with, they know very little and they then become quite comfortable discussing turbines, megawatts, registered power zones and the details of how they will be connected to the grid.”
Difference
Community windpower projects in the Highlands and Islands vary widely, depending on size and community needs, but even the smallest can make a massive difference. HICEC and its funding partners recently provided assistance for 17 community buildings through the Wind2Heat project, which uses the energy from 6kW turbines to heat the buildings through storage heating, hot water or warm air systems. These have introduced positive changes for the environment, saving 143 tonnes of CO2 per annum and made the community buildings much more comfortable for the islanders.
Bryan J Rendall, an Orkney-based electrical engineer whose company has assisted with over 1000 wind energy projects in the UK, Europe, US and Australia, was appointed to install the Wind2Heat turbines in Orkney. Rendall saw the challenges and transformations at first hand. “Before a local squash club switched to renewable energy, it had had to ration its heating, for financial reasons. It was so cold in there that some of the time people didn’t want to get changed into their sports kit. The temperature was even affecting how the ball bounced,” he says. “The result was that people didn’t want to play there and membership of the club was dwindling.” The introduction of the 6kW turbine changed all that, however. The club is now fully heated, encouraging the locals to return and the club has saved £2,000 worth of energy bills.
Rendall also installed turbines for a number of community centres across the islands. “Before it swiched over to renewable energy, one of the centres was like a fridge,” he recalls. “It was actually warmer outside than it was inside.” Community windpower is generating a wide variety of improvements to life in the Highlands and Islands. Rendall recently installed the first school turbine in Orkney, at North Walls Junior High School. “The school is not just benefiting financially from the reduction in heating demand and energy costs, there is an educational benefit for the children too,” he explains. “We provided wind and temperature sensors linked into the school’s IT framework, so the children can monitor the performance of the turbine and learn more about renewable energy at first hand.”
Sourcing
Switching to renewable energy is not without its problems, however, as the perennial issue of sourcing turbines continues to perplex. “The biggest project we’re assisting with at the moment is one where two community groups, in Orkney and Harris, have got as far as funding and grid connection - now they just need to buy the turbines”, says Dodd. But it is currently estimated that they will have a wait of up to two years before delivery. “I can understand the turbine manufacturer’s point of view”, he comments. “They are running a business after all and it makes sense to prioritise orders for hundreds of turbines, rather than those for just a few, but it is extremely disappointing for our local communities to have to wait this long.”
Rendall agrees that the issue of finding the right turbines at the right time can be frustrating, but he believes there is a solution at hand for some: “While there is still undoubtedly a place and a need for the bigger turbines, depending on the size, scope and objectives of each project, some communities could speed up the process by buying a number of smaller turbines rather than waiting for one larger one,” he says. “Smaller turbines are much more readily available - 6kW turbines can usually be sourced and delivered in the space of about a week.”
Specification
Availability is not the only factor affecting the issue of getting the right turbines in the Highlands and Islands, specification is important too, as Rendall points out: “We need turbines that are suitable for the weather conditions, particularly here in Orkney. This is a very tough environment, so they need to be strong to survive.”
Rendall’s experience in working with wind energy projects led him to develop a high performance 6kw turbine, the Scirocco, jointly with turbine manufacturer Eoltec. Initially designed for remote and extreme wind locations, it is also proving effective for lower wind speed sites. An installer network was put in place last year, covering the whole of the UK, from Shetland to Cornwall and including a wide range of installations, such as a home in Aylesbury, a Highland golf course and a farm in Powys. One of the first sites to install the Scirocco turbine was Westray Processors, an Orkney shellfish processing factory. Performance has been impressive, as it is producing 25,595kW annually, well in excess of early predictions of around 18,000kW to 20,000kW.
Reliable
Rendall is now working with Eoltec to develop a 25kW turbine, the WindRunner: “The community projects here need turbines that are reliable, cost-effective and very efficient,” he explains. “We believe 25kW turbines are most suitable for the types of community projects in this area and that the WindRunner will fill a gap in the market for a high performance turbine suited to larger commercial sites, community centres and farms.” The new turbine is currently at the prototype stage: “We want to test it during the worst phase of the Orkney winter, before launching it onto the market next year,” says Rendall. “The extremes of weather here make it ideal for testing - very few turbines can cope.”
Community windpower is not just about the turbines though, as Dodd points out: “It improves the wellbeing of the community and builds local businesses. It also saves money and generates income, which means less dependency on other grants. And what communities learn when developing their own windpower project, they can then share with other communities, building a network of experience.”
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