The West of Orkney Windfarm is running a series of public consultation events throughout May and is encouraging members of the public to come along.
The events begin in Thurso on May 16 and continue through to Stromness on May 25.
Speaking about the events, West of Orkney Windfarm Development Director Jack Farnham says:
“We are keen to communicate openly with communities across the north of Scotland and offer opportunities to meet and hear your views.
“We’ve already attended a number of local events including the Durness Gathering, the Halkirk Games, the Dounby Show and the Orkney County Show. In November, we organised a project specific consultation event in seven venues across Caithness, Sutherland and Orkney which were well attended.
“We have now analysed the feedback we have received and would like to share an overview of that analysis. We will also provide a project update and more detailed insights into a number of the environmental assessments we have been undertaking.
“We’d like to encourage as many people as possible to attend, where you will get a chance to meet the development team, ask questions and offer feedback.”
Dates and venues are as follows:
- Thurso, The Pentland Hotel – Tue 16th May, 3.30pm – 7.30p
- Strathy, Strathy Village Hall – Wed 17th May, 3.30pm – 7.30pm
- Halkirk, Ross Institute – Thu 18th May, 3.30pm – 7.30pm
- Kirkwall, Orkney Harbour Authority, Kiln Corner – Tue 23rd May, 10am – 2pm
- Sandwick, Sandwick Community Hall – Tue 23rd May, 4pm – 8pm
- Kirkwall, LPVG Room, Pickaquoy Centre – Wed 24th May, 3.30pm – 7.30pm
- Stromness, Robert Rendall Building, ICIT – Thu 25th May, 3.30pm – 7.30pm
Full details are available here:
www.westoforkney.com/communities
Orbex has announced that construction for Sutherland Spaceport is due to start imminently.
Jacobs, the contractor appointed by Orbex to manage construction for the site has appointed Lybster-based John Gunn and Sons Ltd as its local construction partner. The Gunn team will begin their mobilisation next week on Monday 24th and Tuesday, 25th April. Their initial focus will be to improve and extend the entry to the spaceport site.
In advance of the works starting, safety signage and traffic lights will be set up on the A838 (heading both east and west) close to the spaceport entrance. Work will start formally on 26th April and is expected to be completed by middle or end of May.
Future phases of work will include improvements to various passing places, required as part of the planning requirement from the Highland Council. This work will take place after the spaceport entrance work has been concluded in order to minimise disruption to traffic on the road. Further details about this second phase of work will be released in due course.
Orbex is also currently recruiting for an Environmental Clerk of Works position, making this the second job directly associated with the spaceport. The role will monitor the contractor’s compliance with the ecological, ornithological and hydrological commitments provided in the Environmental Impact Study, approved as part of the 2020 planning permission for the site granted by the Highland Council. Details for vacancy are on the Work with us section of the Orbex website.
The NDA are proud sponsors of VIBES Scottish Environment Business Awards which are showcasing what Scottish businesses are doing to reach the Scottish Government’s ambitious target to become ‘Net Zero’ by 2045.
The prestigious multi-partner awards are calling on businesses to share their inspiring stories, encouraging others to reduce their impact on the environment while providing a just transition.
The 2023 awards feature three new categories: the Just Transition Scotland Award, the Vision in Business Scotland Award and the STV Green Fund Award, with a £30K campaign partnership with STV up for grabs. There are 12 award categories.
Entries are free and applications are open from 1st March 2023 until 14th April 2023, 5pm. All applicants will receive tailored feedback and guidance and will be signposted to free help from Government agencies in relation to further environmental improvement where appropriate. Winners receive an attractive trophy with case studies shared online and associated networking opportunities.
More information can be found at www.vibes.org.uk and or by contacting vibes@sepa.org.uk
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This month, we’re thrilled to welcome to our membership PA Consulting Services we look forward to working with them.
To discuss membership, please reach out to our Business Development manager, Fiona Levack. You can contact Fiona by email: fiona@caithnesschamber.com. You can read about membership on the website using this link.
If you’re already a member but would like a reminder of how to get the most from your membership, Fiona will gladly go over that with you too.
This month, we’re thrilled to welcome to our membership Bridges UK (Worldwide) Ltd, GMG Energy Ltd and Prima Uno Ltd we look forward to working with them all.
To discuss membership, please reach out to our Business Development manager, Fiona Levack. You can contact Fiona by email: fiona@caithnesschamber.com. You can read about membership on the website using this link.
If you’re already a member but would like a reminder of how to get the most from your membership, Fiona will gladly go over that with you too.
This month, we’re thrilled to welcome to our membership Highland Council (PSO) and Eastern Airways we look forward to working with them both.
To discuss membership, please reach out to our Business Development manager, Fiona Levack. You can contact Fiona by email: fiona@caithnesschamber.com. You can read about membership on the website using this link.
If you’re already a member but would like a reminder of how to get the most from your membership, Fiona will gladly go over that with you too.
Responding to the release of further details from the UK Government on the energy support plan for business, Trudy Morris, Chief Executive of Caithness Chamber of Commerce, said:
“Whilst it is welcome that the UK Government has finally responded and stepped up to provide an initial support package for firms by capping wholesale energy prices for six months, it is simply not enough. We hope that the Chancellor’s fiscal statement on Friday, will give more detail on support for businesses.
“A six-month cap is not enough for businesses to be sufficiently reassured that the problem won’t return when the cap is no longer in effect.
“We also urge the UK Government to engage with the business community before defining ‘vulnerable industries’ cited for support after the original six-month cap. Right now, many industries are vulnerable, and this is unlikely to change in such a short period of time.
“The Prime Minister has said she wants to deliver growth and get the economy going. To do this, we need businesses to survive.”
ENDS
With the continuing energy crisis, many businesses are left wondering what their options are for lowering costs and becoming more resilient to ever changing market conditions.
Whilst the Chamber continues to lobby and campaign for government support for businesses, we wanted to know how renewable heating options stack up in this current economic climate. So, we asked our member Ryan Pollard, at RDI Renewables to share his thoughts on the options available for businesses in way that was easy to understand and clearly set out the cost benefits.
Here’s Ryan’s thoughts……….
Solar Photovoltaic
With the current energy crisis setting in, many businesses will be struggling to avoid the rising costs for fuel, in particular electric. There seems to be little we can do about it with some companies reporting as much as a 500% increase in their costs.
One option worth considering would be to check the feasibility of solar panels, in the past solar panels have been propped up by government incentives such as the feed in tariff scheme. In more recent years this technology has reached a point where it has been able to stand on its own two feet as far as financial returns are concerned. The standard domestic array from RDI Renewables today will cost around £5,500, this would be for a 5.3kW array which will produce around 4,000kWh per year of electricity. Based on recent costs of electricity of 17p/kWh this would have a value of £680 meaning the investment would pay for itself in just over 8 years, which is not bad.
It can be difficult to come up with a sensible estimate on what today’s electric tariff is as many businesses are being quoted as much as 63p/kWh. However let’s play it safe and go with 40p/kWh, on this basis on the same size of array you would yield 4,000kWh x £0.40 = £1,600. This is a staggering amount of money and would bring an annual return on investment of 29% paying for itself in just over 3 years.
The good thing about PVs is that they are very scalable and this example will be very similar on a larger scale. For example, a 38.5kW array was recently looked at for a local business on a building with very high electric use. This array will cost £27,086.67 plus VAT to install and will generate around 23,000kWh of electricity, based on 40p/kWh this will save this local business £9,200 per year.
Not all businesses are suitable as some will have much higher electric costs in the winter, for example if electric heating is used. In these cases solar PV may not be worth doing or at least not on a large scale. Many businesses however have consistent electric consumption throughout the year where manufacturing is carried out. Others may have much higher electric usage in the summer if the business has chillers/freezers which work much harder in the summer or perhaps the business is involved with the tourism industry which is seasonal and well suited for solar PV.
One final note to consider on solar PV is that the equipment is very reliable, this technology is solid state and therefore has no moving parts and no annual service requirements. The inverter is the only part of the system which is likely to break at some point and this comes with a 10 year warranty, aside from this the whole system is expected to last over 20 years.
Biomass
For businesses which are expecting high costs for heating throughout this winter another option which may be worth looking into would be a biomass boiler. Let’s take a snapshot of some local prices for fuel and compare from most expensive to cheapest what options local businesses have.
Electric or storage heaters are by far the most expensive way of heating your business, with current electric prices in excess of 40p/kWh. Electric heating is only able to provide 1kWh of heat for every 1kWh of electricity consumed and therefore the cost of this form of heating is 40p/kWh or higher.
Air source heat pumps are a great way for many businesses to reduce costs as they use a refrigeration circuit to move heat energy around as opposed to converting it. As a result this technology can produce 3kWh of heat out for every 1 used, meaning the cost is only 13.5p/kWh. This technology is a great option for anyone who currently uses electric heaters for their business.
Kerosene or oil is another very popular form of heating within the North Highlands. Recent changes to the use of red diesel means that most businesses are now using this for their heating. Kerosene did shoot up to around £1.15/Litre recently but has settled back down to around £0.95 per Litre. 1 Litre of kerosene contains approximately 10kWh of heat meaning the cost is around 9.5p/kWh of heat, which is not bad.
Biomass takes many different forms however the 3 most common are log, chip and pellet. Logs are the cheapest form of heating. However, there are no automated feed systems for log boilers which means you have to load a boiler as well as clean it out and remove ash etc. Some businesses will have the manpower to accommodate this however many will not.
Wood pellets can be blown in via a lorry and the boilers are fully automated making this technology as easy to run as oil. However pellets are a manufactured fuel and are therefore sensitive to international oil and gas prices. This means that they have also seen a significant increase in cost over the past few months and are showing no signs of reducing.
Wood chip comes with the advantages of both of the above fuel types, it’s as cheap and available as logs due to the fact that local timber can be sourced from local forests and turned into chip by local contractors. The boilers are also automated so there is no need to light the boiler or refuel for example. If you have the space to accommodate the plant required to run such a system then you could consider the possibility of having a wood chip boiler installed. Many local businesses in the region have found great success in doing so and are continuing to reap the benefits. Wood chip costs around £120 a tonne and 1 tonne of chip (4m3) contains around 3,000kWh of heat, meaning the cost of heating your business with wood chip today is around 4p/kWh.
To summarise, many local businesses within the North Highlands are going to be struggling over the coming winter and beyond. Not all will be suitable for the above technologies however some will be. If you feel that you could benefit and would like to know more about how feasible renewables are for your business then please reach out to RDI Renewables and we will try our best to help. We have been established in the county for over 10 years now and have a wealth of experience as well as a long list of clients who can speak to our services and continued support long after the installation is complete.
Contact Ryan at info@rdirenewables.co.uk or 01847 890012