The Highlands and Islands of Scotland represent the greatest density of renewable energy resource in the UK which could make a significant contribution to the UK’s energy requirements and climate change targets.

Deriving benefit from this resource depends not only on its production, but on effective delivery to its point of use. To explore this issue consultants TNEI have prepared a report on the complexities surrounding methods of connecting strategic renewable energy resources from the islands into the UK transmission network.

This report was commissioned by Highlands and Islands Enterprise in conjunction with the Scottish Executive, Shetland Islands Council, Orkney Islands Council and Comhairle nan Eilean Siar.

The report is based on current estimates (at March 2007) for wind generation of 1,000 MW on the Western Isles, 600 MW on Shetland, 200 MW on Orkney and the 1,000 MW Beatrice offshore windfarm in the Moray Firth.

The full report can be downloaded here in Adobe pdf format, right, or you can use the following link:

Assessment of National Grid connection options for the Scottish Islands - March 2007