High time for Shetland’s oil, gas and renewables to benefit the isles
With all the talk about renewable energy, AI and data centres, I wonder why we are not looking at how some of this investment could help fund our tunnels. Our proposed tunnels could potentially carry fibre, power cables and other services alongside traffic, reducing costs and unnecessary development across our land and seabed.
Companies such as Amazon and Microsoft are spending billions on data centres, which need huge amounts of electricity and good fibre connections. Shetland has renewable energy, so there could be an opportunity to combine some of this infrastructure rather than keep developing separate projects.
There is an interesting example next door. Microsoft’s Project Natick placed 864 servers on the seabed off Orkney in 2018. It operated for over two years before being recovered in 2020. The project brought work for local marine contractors and publicity, but Microsoft later abandoned plans for underwater data centres.
There appears to have been little lasting financial benefit for Orkney. We should speak to our neighbours about what they learned, including any longer-term environmental effects.
Meanwhile, renewable generators can receive constraint payments to reduce output because the grid cannot take the electricity, while islanders continue to face high energy bills. Making better use of that energy locally deserves serious consideration.
Amazon, Microsoft and other large corporations already spend considerable sums meeting their carbon-reduction commitments. Some of that investment could potentially benefit Shetland while helping them meet their targets.
The recent £23 million in Scottish Government funding for the Yell Sound tunnel business case and pre-construction work is welcome. But we need funding to actually build tunnels, not another decade of studies while our ferries get older.
SIC could use the current work to investigate shared infrastructure and approach Amazon, Microsoft, energy companies and telecoms providers about contributing towards facilities they would use.
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Government would remain responsible for transport, with private companies helping fund their own requirements. The same approach could be considered for Whalsay and other future fixed links.
Shetland cannot change UK corporation-tax rules, but we can still question whether multinational companies pay a fair share of tax relative to the business they generate. Large corporations benefit from tax allowances and arrangements that are often beyond the reach of smaller businesses.
While tax reform is a national matter, we can negotiate a better local return through investment in infrastructure, apprenticeships and permanent jobs rather than another small community-benefit payment.
Any agreements must be transparent, with local communities involved from the beginning. Our tunnels should remain under public control, and private investment must not override environmental concerns or local decisions.
We have already seen the value of Shetland’s oil, gas and renewable energy to the rest of the country. This time we should make sure more of that value stays here.
If Amazon, Microsoft and others can benefit from Shetland’s energy, perhaps some of their investment could help connect our islands — rather than leaving us waiting another decade while our ferries continue to age.
Regina Irvine
Whalsay
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