Coming over the Hillside

Shetland does have a lot of wind, in fact probably rather more than it really needs. It also has a few wind turbines - this little collection is at Burradale just a few miles west of Lerwick.

Today the Supreme Court rejected what might well have been a final challenge attempting to block plans for a huge wind farm a little further north on the Shetland mainland.  This new farm is intended to have over 100 huge turbines and to generate 370MW.  Which I'm told is enough to power 175,000 houses, which is also rather more than Shetland really needs.

I have really mixed views on this development.  Part of me is in favour of using wind and wave power in place of the traditional sources, but I'm not convinced that a peat moorland in Shetland is the right place for the farm.  Opinion on Shetland appears to share my mixed views.

It'll be interesting to see what happens next, I suspect that the construction project could be significantly more challenging that the gas plant project which still isn't finished.

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