To Fergus Ewing and Derek Mackay, Scottish Government
Local grid capacity in the Western Isles – open letter
Dear Mr Ewing/Mr Mackay,
I am writing to you in my capacity as an elected member in Comhairle nan Eilean Siar regarding the issue of local energy generation and grid capacity in the Western Isles.
As the islands wait for the interconnector, which is scheduled for 2019, communities have invested in turbines to generate income and fund projects within their community.
However, the lack of capacity in the local grid is preventing many of these community turbines to export generated energy and thus raise income.
In 2010, SSE stated that: “Recognising that a number of smaller windfarm developments may be ready to connect prior to the commissioning of this (Minch sub-sea) link, we are exploring with national Grid whether there are any options in managing the generator output to allow for additional generation to connect utilising the existing 132kV transmission circuit that connects the Western Isles via Skye to the Scottish mainland.”
On the 6th of February I wrote to Alec Morrison, Transmission Development Islands network investment Manager SSE power distribution asking whether this was still feasible and to look at increasing the capacity from 20MW to 40MW. Sources, since then, have said that possibly 60MW would be considered.
Mr Morrison wrote back positively by saying that SSE would ask their distribution colleagues and NGET to review the current position and determine if anything further can be done to connect additional community generation ahead of the completion of the Minch HVDC link.
Would the Scottish Government consider supporting such an initiative for the islands given the tremendous opportunity such an increase would bring to the economically fragile communities in the authority. I would be willing to meet and discuss further opportunities.
Please advise your thoughts on this matter,
Best wishes,
Councillor Gordon Murray
more hot air to join the air moving around the existing blades.Wind turbine policy set up to create jobs and wealth ,with the electricity user paying for the privilege of keeping others in a lifestyle.absolutely nothing to do with cheap,consistant electric supply affordable by the poorer in our society
But why is the good councillor writing an absurd letter like this to the media? Should he not be talking directly to the MP or MSP? After all, he is a member of the SNP group!
Because he has to build up a public profile, silly gugastone, he has ambitions, after all, to be the next MSP when Alasdair Allan makes a chicken run to Gordon!
Such cynicism! Here we have poor Gordon trying his best to raise his public profile and you shoot him down in flames. Wicked people! All he wants is to have his picture taken with Fergus Ewing for goodness sake!
Scotland has a surplus of electricity, and this idiotic mania for wind turbines is not for the benefit of Scotland or its people. Most of these wind farms (and proposed wind farms) are owned by English and other foreign companies. These companies are subsidised to the hilt, by the taxpayer and the public in general through higher energy charges, to increase the profitability of these foreign companies in selling all the surplus electricity to England.
Some landowners also profit from these windfarms by being paid large rents for the use of their land; people such as David Camoron’s father-in-law. The only ones who do not benefit from these windfarms are the Scottish people; we, in the Highlands and Islands even have to pay a premium for our electricity. However, we have our landscape blighted by forests of these monstrosities.
If the English are in such need of electricity, especially in places such as London, they should plant their forests of wind turbines in all the open spaces in and around their cities. If they want to blight the landscape, then let them blight it in their own back-yard.
The only reason for having any wind turbines in our islands would be to provide a cheap and reliable power source for the islands, and certainly not for enriching foreign power companies. As for creating jobs, that is utter garbage as can be seen by what happened in the super large windfarm in Wales. They brought in most of the labour for erecting the turbines, and the only people employed since are one Welshman and two foreigners.
I couldn’t have put it better myself Guga. All these things are true. Foreign companies are falling over themselves to come to Scotland, plunder our resources and laugh all the way to the bank. The Government even agreed generous compensation when the wind doesn’t blow or blows too hard!
Closer to home, we have two international companies who couldn’t believe their luck when they came across a bunch of incompetent idiots on the Stornoway Trust who secretly (and probably unlawfully) signed over all rights to Estate land for a pittance.
One thing you forgot to mention. The mad race to cover Scotland with blades as quickly as possible was instigated by one Alex Salmond in order to please his unelected masters in Brussels.