Consultation begins into OIC sustainable energy strategy

Orkney Islands Council looking for opinions on priorities for achieving a more sustainable future for Orkney’s energy supply.

The council has updated the sustainable Orkney energy strategy, first published in 2009, and the revised draft is now being published for public consultation.

“There’s been considerable progress on a lot of the aims sets out in the 2009 strategy,” said the council’s Gavin Barr. “At the same time, however, we’ve seen significant changes in policy and regulation and delays to ambitions for a better grid connection for the county.

“This grid constraint remains a target, but it has meanwhile created opportunity out of necessity,

with exciting developments in recent years in energy storage and other smart infrastructure ideas.

“This revised Strategy aims to reflect all of this, and to give the Orkney community the opportunity to be proactively involved in helping shape the development of local energy resources.

“Orkney has the potential to forge its own unique sustainable future and lead the way in transforming communities from reliance on fossil fuels to a sustainable energy network. But to do this, we need to have a clear plan for tackling the bottlenecks and obstacles and work together.”

The strategy four ambitions for Orkney’s energy future:

• The achievement of ambitious carbon reduction targets.
• The reduction and eradication of fuel poverty in Orkney.
• Positioning Orkney as the globally recognised innovation region to develop solutions for the world’s energy systems challenges.
• Ensure a secure energy supply during transition to a low carbon future.

The document is available online and the closing date for comments in April 30.