Energy / Councillors to be kept informed as Sullom Voe ‘masterplan’ develops
Photo: Shetland News
ELECTED representatives will have their say in setting a framework for major industrial developments in the wider Sullom Voe area.
Council leader Emma Macdonald and the authority’s chief executive Maggie Sandison have given assurances that councillors will be able to put forward their views on the topic.
It comes after an industry-led working group started work on planning and coordinating proposed projects for the area in Shetland’s North Mainland.
Sandison said coordinating projects and working collaboratively in realising these would be beneficial for local communities, including accommodation providers.
Macdonald said elected members have been involved in the council’s energy task force.
“I agree that finding a mechanism to ensure the local community council members and elected members are informed will be really important,” she added.
“As for the Sullom Voe development group it is very early days in its inception and there will be plans to inform and involve members as it progresses.”
Initially chaired by Brendan Hall of Shetland Aerogenerators, the Sullom Voe Development Framework held its first meeting on 29 May.
The group consists of representatives from all the developers with an interest in the area – Shetland Aerogenerators, Veri (an EnQuest company), offshore wind farm developers Stoura and Arven, Statkraft, and SSEN Transmission.
Statutory bodies such as SEPA, NatureScot, Scottish Water, HES and HIE, in addition to a number of SIC officers are also on the working group, as are representative from Land Use Consultants (LUC).
Over the next 10 years the wider Sullom Voe area could see the construction of a massive converter station, including a 400kV substation to connect two offshore wind farms via a new subsea cable with the rest of the country.
There are also plans for a not yet specified 400MW ammonia and hydrogen plant, being developed by Statkraft, Shetland Aerogenerator’s Neshion energy park project as well ongoing work to turn Sullom Voe Terminal into a green energy hub including carbon capture and storage, wind energy and hydrogen production.
Neither of these projects have planning permission as yet, and Sandison said the point of developing a framework was like having a masterplan.
“It is about getting the developers to work together to come up with a way that makes their proposals hang together in a more coherent way than they would do if they were individually progress with their projects,” she said.
“Led and developed by industry (…), the framework does eventually come to the council for a decision on whether we want to adopt it as a framework that sits within the planning system.
“Elected representatives will absolutely have the final decision about whether a framework will be adopted.”
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