Government report highlights renewables potential in the Northern Isles

The UK and Scottish Governments have published a report considering the evidence for developing renewables projects on Scottish islands.

The report — Scottish Islands Renewables Project — shows that while there are significant potential benefits to developing renewables on Scottish Islands, including Orkney, there are also considerable costs that need to be overcome.

The report highlights that renewable generation, including onshore wind, wave and tidal, on the Scottish Islands could make a significant contribution to the UK’s 2020 renewables targets.

However, it also notes that the cost of deploying renewables is higher than comparable projects on the mainland, due to the expensive transmission links that would be required.

The report, released by the Department of Energy and Climate Change today, Wednesday, also found that by 2030 renewable projects in Orkney and Shetland could create thousands of full time jobs.