Cable plans submitted as second Luggie’s Knowe turbine set to be installed next year

PLANS have been lodged with the council for underground cabling which will connect a second wind turbine near Dales Voe to the grid.

The cable will run from the Luggie’s Knowe site to the local electricity distribution system near to the A970/Ladies Drive.

Shetland Aerogenerators received planning consent in late 2024 for a 150-metre tall wind turbine and a battery energy storage system, with a total generating capacity of nearly 20MW.

It came after a first turbine there, slightly smaller in size, was installed in 2015.

The latest planning application says the length of the proposed cabling is around 2,700 metres, with the 33kV cables buried at a minimum depth of around 80cm.

It added: “The proposed development will be implemented in such a way that it is environmentally acceptable and will include a co-ordinated scheme of environmental mitigation to ensure the long-term protection of the local and wider environment and to deliver development which is sustainable in nature.”

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It is expected that cable works could begin in February, with energisation targeted for August.

Work is ongoing to prepare land near to the A970 for a new substation which will connect to the planned eight-turbine Mossy Hill wind farm and host electrical switchgear for SSEN.

Meanwhile a construction environmental management plan, submitted to the council earlier this month, said that construction on access tracks for the turbine development should start at the end of the year.

Construction on the turbine is expected to last for around 12 months.

When planning permission was approved for the second Luggie’s Knowe turbine, Shetland Aerogenerators said it was exploring routing community benefit payments into schemes such as Hjaltland Housing Association’s existing fuel vouchers programme.

It said the 5MW turbine alone could produce enough energy to power more than 2,600 Shetland homes annually, while the battery system “will offer flexibility improving network capacity and accelerating Shetland’s transition to net zero”.

Shetland Aerogenrators also operates the five-turbine Burradale wind farm outside of Lerwick, and is developing plans for eight turbines and battery storage on a site next to Sullom Voe Terminal.