Community / Broadband and energy boosts for island communities at north and south of Shetland
THERE is good news for communities at the very north and south of Shetland.
On Friday Openreach said hundreds of homes and businesses in Unst are now able to upgrade to full fibre broadband, while news was also announced this week of funding for the electricity system in Fair Isle.
Openreach has built the new network for Unst on behalf of the Scottish Government’s R100 programme.
It said signal travels from the head end exchange at Sullom Voe and crosses two subsea cables before reaching the island, with a subtended head end (SHE) at Uyeasound boosting the signal to cover all of Unst.
Shetland News asked Openreach what resilience or back-up is in place in the event of a fault with subsea cables, but we did not receive a response by the time of publication.
Scottish business minister Richard Lochhead said connecting Unst is a “remarkable achievement and a clear demonstration of our commitment to delivering faster broadband to communities across Scotland through the Scottish Government’s R100 programme”.
Full fibre broadband connects a property directly to the exchange using fibre optic cables, instead of having to go through a cabinet.
Meanwhile the Fair Isle Electricity Company has been awarded almost £200,000 to improve its renewable network.
The money comes through the Community and Renewable Energy Scheme’s (CARES) community energy generation growth fund, which looks to help local groups install renewable solutions such as wind turbines and solar panels.
Almost 50 projects are set to benefit from more than £5.5 million in funding through the latest round of the scheme, with money coming from both the UK and Scottish governments.
Scottish first minister John Swinney, who visited Shetland in August, paid tribute to the Fair Isle project as the Scottish Government announced its allocation of funding.
“While I was in Shetland earlier this year I visited the Garth Community Wind Farm, which received community and renewable energy scheme funding in 2013 and 2015,” Swinney said.
“This innovative and impressive project is a prime example of the positive impact community energy can have – with profits used by the North Yell Development Council to provide a variety of social and economic benefits to the North Yell community.
“It’s fantastic that the Fair Isle Electricity Company have now also been offered funding, through the first round of this year’s community energy generation growth fund.
“This will go a long way to further support work to increase Shetland’s renewable capacity.”
The Fair Isle Electricity Company has been awarded £183,705 through the fund.
Fair Isle used a combination of wind and diesel power from the 1980s until 2018, with power turning off for the three-mile long island overnight when there was no wind.
However a £3.5 million project led by Fair Isle Electricity Company resulted in a new system consisting of three 60kW wind turbines, a solar array with a capacity of around 50kW and battery storage capable of holding 50 hours of power.
Scottish Labour’s candidate for Shetland John Erskine said it was “great news” for the island as well as Shetland.
“The UK Labour Government’s investment through Great British Energy shows what change means in practice: real, tangible benefits for our communities,” he said.
“This funding will help strengthen Fair Isle’s electricity grid, increase renewable capacity, and deliver cleaner, more reliable energy for local people. It is a clear demonstration of Labour delivering for Shetland, for the Highlands and Islands, and for Scotland.”
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