The Islay Triathlon 2013 will take place on Saturday June 22nd. The Mactaggart Leisure Centre can help with your training plan every Monday from 20th May.
Triathlon 2013 Advert
Time to start training! Triathlon 2013 – Saturday June 22nd
May 12, 2013
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Posted by Andy Macdonald
Proposed Islay Energy Community Benefit Society
May 6, 2013
Everyone is invited to a public meeting in Bowmore Village Hall at 7.30 p.m. Tuesday 14th May to discuss the proposal to establish the Islay Energy Community Benefit Society (IECBS).
The purpose of the IECBS is to raise funds to finance the installation of the community wind turbine at Castlehill. A community benefit society is set up and run by its members in order to conduct business for the benefit the community. The members are people and/or organisations who buy shares in the society, and receive interest on their investments.
The profits made by the society are used to provide benefit to the whole community. Each member has one vote irrespective of the amount invested, and the Board of Directors is elected by the members.
The intention is that IECBS will generate revenues from feed in tariffs and the sale of electricity from the community wind turbine at Castlehill. It is estimated this could yield £60-80,000 p.a. for the community for twenty years. To purchase and install the wind turbine£650,000 needs to be raised. The plan is that a share offer will be launched in July 2013 once IECBS has been formally registered,and people and organisations will be invited to purchase shares. It is likely that the minimum investment will be £100, maximum £20,000.
The meeting on Tuesday 14th of May will be an opportunity for the community to get involved ,receive more information and discus show IECBS would work in greater detail. To provide expert advice on how community benefit societies are established and governed, Dave Hollings, Cooperative Mutual Solutions, wil lbe attending. No investments are required at this stage!
Further information can be obtained from Lindy MacLellan at the Islay Energy Trust.
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Posted by Andy Macdonald
What would you do with £80,000 per year?
April 16, 2013IET wants to hear your views
A chance for you to let Islay Energy Trust hear your views on what our communities need is available now. You can help decide what projects should be funded and how, from the expected income generated by the proposed wind turbine. Just go to the following link and complete the survey online : https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/IslayEnergyTrust
Public consultation meetings during April have been planned as follows and are being run by independent consultants, SKS Scotland – please drop in and give us your views:
Portnahaven Hall, Thurs 18th, 10am – 1pm
Bruichladdich Hall, Thurs 18th, 3 – 6pm
Ballygrant Hall, Friday 19th, 10 – 1 pm
Bowmore Hall, Saturday 20th, 10am – 12.30pm
Columba Hall, Saturday 20th, 1.30-4pm
If you’d like more information or would be interested in joining a focus group to be involved in more detailed discussion, please feel free to get in touch:
Lindy at the IET office in Bowmore – lindy. maclellan@islayenergytrust.org.uk , Tel. 01496 301413
Jim Bennett of SKS Scotland – jimbennett@ sksscotland.co.uk Tel 07932 736006
Shona Sinclair of SKS Scotland – shonasinclair@sksscotland.co.uk Tel 07711 552094
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Posted by Lindy MacLellan
Community Needs Analysis to be launched
March 7, 2013Islay came a step closer to owning its own community wind turbine recently, with the signing of a Turbine Supply Agreement with wind turbine manufacturer Enercon. We will shortly pay a returnable deposit for the turbine, covered by The Scottish Government’s CARES loan scheme, with confirmation of the order due on receipt of planning permission – expected in June of this year, once all bird study work has been completed.
It’s been a long hard road to get to this point, and there are still hurdles to cross – notably, the possibility of a delayed grid connection due to lack of capacity on the Argyll network. We are not the only community affected by this constraint, and as a result there has been a great deal of very constructive discussion with Scottish and Southern Energy, facilitated by Community Energy Scotland, which may lead to us being able to connect on schedule – fingers crossed.
Whenever we connect, the cost of that connection is going to be considerable, and Islay Energy Trust have been invited to submit a Stage 2 application to the Big Lottery Growing Community Assets fund to cover the work required to strengthen the grid. As part of this application we are required to show evidence of a clear and focused plan for distribution of the eventual income from the turbine. In order to do this, we have commissioned a full community needs analysis for Islay, Jura and Colonsay, building on existing studies where appropriate and consulting with as wide a variety of organisations, businesses and individuals as possible. Following confirmation of development funding from The Big Lottery Fund, consultancy firm SKS Scotland will be starting work as soon as is practical to gather your views on what our communities need to build strength and resilience. In essence, we need answers to these questions –
- What to fund
- How to fund it – small grants, large grants
- How to distribute the fund – should IET use other existing groups to distribute the fund or set up its own mechanism?
There will be a variety of ways to respond – via survey forms, at focus groups around the islands, at open meetings – and we want to hear from all sections of the community. If you want some ideas on how other communities are spending their earnings from renewables, just take a look at how they are doing it on Tiree with their Windfall Fund - or on Westray.
The only limits are on ambition and imagination – and our three islands are not short on those!
Full details of the consultation events will be advertised widely, but if you would like to be sure that your group, business or household is contacted directly, please get in touch with Lindy at the IET office in Bowmore – lindy.maclellan@islayenergytrust.org.uk , Tel. 01496 301413
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Posted by Lindy MacLellan
Sound of Islay Tidal Project awarded European Funding
December 17, 2012
The Sound of Islay Tidal Energy Project has been awarded up to €20.6m funding from the EU’s NER300 scheme.
NER300 funding is based on the income of the European Emissions Trading Scheme in which the sale of the 300 million allowances (which each provide the right to emit one tonne of carbon dioxide) forms the New Entrants Reserve.
The fund will be used to support innovative renewable energy technology and carbon capture and storage projects.
This is excellent news for the project and shows further support for the marine renewables industry at a crucial time in its development.
Details of the award decision can be found on the European Commission Climate Action website.
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Posted by Andy Macdonald
West Islay Tidal Array seek Business Community Views
December 6, 2012
Following the public consultation meetings held on Islay in September, the developers of the West Islay Tidal Array are now seeking views from the local business community on what they consider would be the effects upon their businesses.
DP Marine Energy Ltd and its partners DEME Blue Energy propose to build one of the world’s first commercial scale tidal energy parks in the waters approximately 8km off the tip of the Rhinns of Islay.
PBA Roger Tym, a firm of Economists and Planners, has been commissioned to undertake the Socio-Economic, Tourism and Recreation Assessment relating to the proposed development, and to assess the nature of the potential economic and business effects.
The firm would welcome the views of all parts of the business community on the beneficial effects in accommodating those employed or providing services during the construction, operation and decommissioning of the project or negative effects from any form of disturbance. To that end, a business survey is available for completion on-line on the following link:
Electronic and paper copies are available from the Islay Energy Trust (IET) which is helping to facilitate the assessment. IET would like to encourage all kinds of businesses to take part in the survey and ensure that their views are included.
Further information on the survey and direct contact can be made with either the assessment team on euan.shearer@tymconsult.com or 0141-332-6464 or the Islay Energy Trust on lindy.maclellan@islayenergytrust.co.uk or 01496-301413.
The assessment team will also be contacting tourism accommodation providers direct by telephone during the week commencing 3rd December and they would be very grateful for any views or information that could be provided. In addition, the team also hopes to have a number of face-to-face meetings with businesses in the coming weeks prior to Christmas.
Full details of the proposed project are available on-line at www.westislaytidal.com.
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Posted by Andy Macdonald
And here is the weather…..
November 28, 2012Islay Energy Trust’s met mast has been gathering data on the proposed community wind turbine site near Glenegedale for just over 4 months now, and it’s all good news so far. The wind resource, as expected, is excellent, with wind speeds averaging just over 7m/s during the period, with the windiest time of year still to come. One surprise – to me at least – has been that despite everything I was taught at school the prevailing wind on Islay has been from everywhere but the south west! If you haven’t yet spotted the met mast, take a look above the High Road when you’re next passing Buildbase – this will also be the site of the turbine.
Gathering of wind data is an essential part of our project, as full figures are required to guarantee any finance, as well as to satisfy the turbine manufacturer that the desired turbine will perform to their warranty standards. By next June we will have a whole year’s figures, and, if all goes well with the bird study and no geese put in an appearance in the vicinity, then shortly afterwards we hope to be granted planning permission.
That, of course, is not the whole story, as the main issue facing us at present is the lack of grid capacity in Argyll as a whole, which means that theoretically we may not be able to connect until 2016, when the new Carradale – Hunterston link is completed. We are currently engaged with Community Energy Scotland, SSE and other bodies to try to identify a solution to this, and in the meantime will complete all preparatory work so that we are ready to move as soon as possible; our goal, grid allowing, is to have the project completed by late 2013, although this may yet prove to be ambitious.
The delay does affect the economics of the project as the Feed-in Tariff will be reduced next April for new installations; however it will still mean around £80,000 per year should be available for community use. How best to spend this fund will be the subject of wide consultation in the near future, and we hope the wider community will help put together a sound plan.
IET Chairman Philip Maxwell with Iona MacDonald of Community Energy Scotland at the met mast site
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Posted by Lindy MacLellan
