News / Green power forum appoints development officer
SHETLAND Renewable Energy Forum (SREF) has appointed a development officer to drive the budding sector forward.
On Monday, Robin Sampson spent his first day in the office, located within the Hjaltland Housing Association premises, in Lerwick’s Harbour Street.
Mr Sampson, who will be 26 next week, moved north from Brighton where he worked for the Renewable Fuels Agency.
Originally from Glasgow, Mr Sampson has a background astrophysics and aerospace engineering, as well as science communication, an area he gained experience in when working for the Science Centre in Glasgow.
He said working on power systems technology for the aerospace industry had triggered his interest in the renewable energy sector.
He said one of the objectives of the local renewable forum was to bring together everyone with an interest in the sector to discuss how best to move plans and ideas forward.
He is calling on anybody with an interest in the future of renewable energy in Shetland to get in touch.
“One of the key objectives of the Shetland Renewable Energy Forum is to ensure that there are direct benefits to the community from developments in our renewable energy industry, in addition to the increased employment opportunities, income to the islands’ economy and the new skills which those developments will bring.
“We’re currently putting together an expansive range of activities to ensure that our members have the chance to benefit from some of the exciting projects taking place around the islands, and to input their ideas into Shetland’s Renewable Energy Strategy.
“We really would encourage everyone with an interest to get involved. Watch this space!”
Forum chairman Bryan Leask, property service manager with Hjaltland Housing Association, added: “This is an exciting time for renewable technology in Shetland.
“With the launch of the NINES project the current limitation of connecting renewable solutions to the grid can be overcome.
“This in turn will lead to opportunities for individuals, businesses and communities to take advantage of the Feed-In-Tariffs and Renewable Heat Incentive schemes recently announced by the government.”
Robin Sampson can be contacted at the Shetland Renewable Energy Forum, 2 Harbour Street, Lerwick, Tel. 01595 694986 or email SREF@hotmail.co.uk
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