Plans lodged for two wind turbines at Sullom Voe Terminal
IT HAS long been associated with fossil fuels, but Sullom Voe Terminal is edging closer to renewables after a planning application was submitted for two wind turbines.
The turbines would reach 149.9 metres from ground to tip height, with an output of 4.8MW each.
These are nearly the same height of the Viking turbines in the central mainland of Shetland, which reach up to 155 metres.
Currently SVT is fuelled by its own 100MW gas-fired power station but this stands to go out of service once the terminal is connected to the grid shortly – with work ongoing to lay cabling in public roads.
A supporting statement in the planning application said the turbines would reduce SVT’s “reliance on non-renewable sources of energy, and enabling it to operate more sustainably”.
SVT operator EnQuest previously said it was considering up to seven turbines at the site as it looks to decarbonise its operations while moving activity at the terminal towards new energy such as hydrogen production.
The two turbines would be located on unused land within the western part of SVT site.
The proposed development also incorporates proposals to carry out peat restoration.
The supporting statement says the proposed turbines would “generate electricity for a period of approximately 25 years, following which these would be decommissioned and the site restored”.
Construction is expected to take around 12 to 18 months.
A study is included in the planning documents on transport, which raises the idea of taking turbine parts to SVT by public road or via a jetty at the terminal, or the nearby Sella Ness.
There are also eight wind turbines proposed to the east of SVT under the separate Neshion Energy Park project.
This project is led by Shetland Aerogenerators and would also see battery energy storage involved too.
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Also proposed by EnQuest within the SVT site in the move away from fossil fuels are e-fuel production and facilities for carbon capture/storage.
There stands to be further development near to the terminal in the form of a large substation ‘hub’ proposed by SSEN to facilitate projects like a second HVDC subsea cable to the mainland and offshore wind farms to the east of Shetland.
Statkraft is also proposing a large hydrogen/ammonia plant near to the former Scatsta Airport.
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