Aegir update
THE PARTNERS behind the 10 megawatt Aegir wave power farm will tell local politicians this week of their plans for the coming years ahead of a planning application in 2015.
Representatives from Swedish utility Vattenfall and Edinburgh based Pelamis Wave Power are to meet representatives from Shetland Islands Council and Shetland Charitable Trust on Tuesday.
In November last year, Vattenfall, the local authority and the charitable trust signed a Memorandum of Understandingto drive forward the development of marine renewables in the isles.
Speaking ahead of the meeting the chairman of the council’s development committee, Alastair Cooper, said the aim was to maximise the economic and social benefits for the island community.
Charitable trust chair Drew Ratter added: “I remain keen that Shetland benefits from all the research and development benefits which offshore renewables development can bring. Once we have an interconnector to the national grid, it will be critical that offshore development in Shetland waters is well advanced.”
However, it remains unclear how well advanced a project to construct an undersea cable between Shetland and the Scottish mainland really is after news last week that a similar cable to the western isles, initially due to be delivered by October 2015, could be delayed by as much as two years and cost 75 per cent more than originally thought.
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