Letters / Cable failures expensive to fix
I see that SSE are predictably going for retaining Lerwick Power Station as a back up for cable problems.
You omit to mention in your report Power station could be kept as part of cable back up solution(Shetland News, 12 March 2021) that a new engine was installed in the power station last year.
The old power station may well see quite a bit of use, as recent cable problems would indicate.
A new £30 million cable across the Pentland Firth to Orkney failed within a couple of months of completion at the end of 2020 resulting in an old but still functional cable having to be reconnected.
The cable outage was reported in the Orcadian but SSE have kept quiet about it.
Cable failures take a lot of time and expense to fix.
It is a matter of some concern that the full energy solution for Shetland including necessary backup was not considered by Ofgem in its flawed consultation about the interconnector.
Their cost benefit analysis could not be considered complete without including the fully costed details of the required back up.
This reinforces the fact that value for money to consumers was not an important factor in Ofgem’s all too hasty approval of the inter-connector.
Frank Hay
Chairman
Sustainable Shetland
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