Spring may be coming…..but….

March 25, 2010

                                                       

Don’t forget how cold the winter was! If you were shivering in an uninsulated house this winter, make sure you do something about it before the summer passes. Without insulation, you were losing up to 25% of your home’s heat through the roof, and another 30% through cavity walls – and paying for the pleasure.

Energycare Scotland have just completed a second round of work on the island as part of Islay Energy Trust’s Carbon Savings project, and this time over 20 homes have benefited from either free or cut-price loft and cavity wall insulation.  These boys are keen to work and will be back on Islay during the last week of April, so get in touch now if you’d like to participate.  Anyone missed from this latest list due to timing or other issues will be top of the next. Other firms carry out this work too – you may have had a flyer from Argyll & Bute Council with your council tax bill recently offering a council tax rebate if you take up an offer from Scottish Gas; feel free to explore this but it’s worth noting that the ‘rebate’ appears to have been added on to the initial cost, which on this visit by Energycare was around £199. It has also proved difficult to get larger firms to commit to coming to the islands

These discounts for insulation work apply to all households with uninsulated cavity walls and also those with less than 60mm of loft insulation; if you are over 70 or on certain benefits the work may be free. The benefits of full insulation are immediate and will save you money as well as keeping your house warmer – even if you have to pay for cavity wall insulation, it will repay itself in just 2-3 years. If you are having trouble keeping your house warm, insulation is the first thing you should consider – there’s no point paying for heat that is escaping to the outdoors!

Interested? The initial survey is free and carries no obligation to have work carried out. If you’re not sure how much loft insulation you already have and have difficulty in accessing your loft yourself, just get in touch – call Lindy on 01496 301413, or email lindy.maclellan@islayenergytrust.org.uk, or call into the IET office in Main Street, Bowmore.  Surveys will take place from 23rd-25th April, with installation completed the following week. Act now and you’ll be sure of warmer winters for the future – indoors at least!

Quick, professional work - and no need to don the face mask yourself!

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Posted by Lindy MacLellan

Wave and Tidal Leasing for Argyll

March 23, 2010

The Saltire Prize - The Scottish Government's £10million challenge for marine renewables

Scottish Energy Minister Jim Mather announced that Scotland’s £10 million Saltire Prize, a challenge to the world to accelerate the commercial development of marine energy, is now open for applications.

The Prize, the largest Government innovation prize in the world, will go to a commercially viable wave or tidal energy technology that generates at least 100 Gigawatts of electricity over two years using only the power of the sea – enough to power 10,000 homes.

Scottish Energy Minister Jim Mather also confirmed today that The Crown Estate, as owners of the seabed around the UK, will run a dedicated leasing round over this summer specifically aimed at Saltire Prize competitors to test their devices in Scottish waters.

Publishing the competition guidelines today at the Scottish Renewables annual conference in Glasgow, Mr Mather said:  “I am delighted that the Saltire Prize, Scotland’s challenge to the world to push to the boundaries of marine energy innovation, is now open for applications.  The guidelines have been finalised and are published today. We have been working with The Crown Estate and Marine Scotland to enable new opportunities for global competitors and I am pleased at the co-operation in opening a dedicated new sea-bed leasing round. This will be led by The Crown Estate and will be specifically aimed at new projects competing for the Saltire Prize.

Rob Hastings, Director of the marine estate at The Crown Estate said: “Following on the success of the Pentland Firth and Orkney Waters announcement, we are delighted to be working with the Scottish Government to identify further areas for wave and tidal project leases in Scottish Waters. We share the Scottish Government’s drive to encourage this emerging industry to maturity and we are looking forward to announcing the start of the leasing round later this year.”

Scotland’s seas can provide 25 per cent of Europe’s tidal power and 10 per cent of its wave power. The Scottish Government and The Crown Estate are seeking views on the suitability of the proposed areas for the dedicated leasing round. The areas are:

Wave – West of Shetland, west of the Western Isles, north of Tiree, west of Colonsay
Tidal – West of Islay, west of Kintyre peninsula

It is very encouraging to see Argyll being given the opportunity to make use of its excellent marine energy potential.

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Posted by Andy Macdonald

Tidal Energy Planned in Pentland Firth

March 16, 2010

The Crown Estate has announced the names of the successful bidders for the world’s first commercial wave and tidal leasing round, for ten sites in Scotland’s Pentland Firth and Orkney waters. The 1.2 GW of installed capacity proposed by the wave and tidal energy developers for 2020, 600 MW each from wave and tidal, is four times the peak output of Dounreay power station. This is enough electricity to meet the needs of up to three quarters of a million homes.

ScottishPower Renewables, who are developing the Sound of Islay Tidal Energy project, were awarded a lease for a 100MW tidal site at Ness of Duncansby and a 50MW wave site at Marwick Head.  The 10MW  Sound of Islay project is an important stepping stone to prove the technology before the larger development at Ness of Duncansby.

The First Minister, Alex Salmond, MSP, MP said: “Today marks a major milestone in the global journey towards a low carbon future, with the commercial-scale deployment of marine renewables set to power our economies and help safeguard the planet for generations to come. These waters have been described as the Saudi Arabia of marine power and the wave and tidal projects unveiled today – exceeding the initial 700 MW target capacity – underline the rich natural resources of the waters off Scotland.

“Leading international energy companies and innovators continue to be drawn to Scottish waters, which boast as much as a quarter of Europe’s tidal and offshore wind resource and a tenth of the continent’s potential wave capacity. Together with some 11 GW of planned offshore wind developments, these latest marine renewables projects show that Scotland is powering ahead in the development and deployment of clean, green energy.

Roger Bright, Chief Executive of The Crown Estate said: “This announcement demonstrates the UK’s position as the leader in wave and tidal technologies. Through our experience and some of the best natural resources in the world we have been able to launch the first wave and tidal energy projects on a commercial scale.”

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Posted by Andy Macdonald

Tidal Project Archaeology Surveys

March 13, 2010

One of the most interesting activities of the planning process for the Tidal Energy Project has been the assessment of the marine and shoreline archaeology.

Survey work was recently carried out by Dan Atkinson from Headland Archaeology with local support from Susan Campbell.  Whilst no new discoveries were found during the surveys, the work highlighted the rich selection of historic maps that are available online from the National Library of Scotland (
http://www.nls.uk
).

Dan Atkinson and Susan Campbell

Dan Atkinson and Susan Campbell

An excellent example is the map of the Sound of Islay between Port Askaig and Feolin from 1882 which can be found at
http://bit.ly/Sound1882
.  Blaeu’s 1654 Atlas of Scotland can be found at
http://bit.ly/Blaeu1654
.

On the engineering side of the project, the design of the tidal device is making good progress. Hammerfest Strøm UK Ltd are planning to install a full-scale version of the device at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Orkney later this year.  The testing of the single device in Orkney will provide the confidence to go ahead with the ten devices proposed for the Sound of Islay.

The Navigational Safety Risk Assessment (NSRA) is another important part of the planning process and David Cantello, an independent consultant from Abbot Risk Consulting, has been assessing the potential impact to other marine users.  Meetings took place in November and December with CalMac, Argyll and Bute Council, the MoD, the Northern Lighthouse Board and some of the Port Askaig fishermen.  Any further comments on the potential impact to marine users would be welcomed by Andy Macdonald at the Islay Energy Trust on 810 873 or andrew.macdonald@islayenergytrust.org.uk

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Posted by Andy Macdonald

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