NHA News Summer 2004

Ptomoting
UnstBenewaHe tnctgy
Proiect
in$cotlanil's
llorthemIsles
was primarily used for heating and trans-
By RossCazey,ExecutiveCommittee,Shetland
portation. During severewinter weather,
Renewsble EnergrForumandTbchnical Advise7
where wind chill penetratesevenwell-insu-
PURE Proiect
lated buildings,the cost of heatingrisessig-
Two hundred miles north of the Scot- n i f i c a n t l y . T h e h e a v y d e m a n d o n
landmainlandthe residentsin the Shetland transportationenergyis typical of many re-
Islandsare alreadyexperiencingthe future mote communities but its costs are com-
realitiesof energyprices.In Unst,the most poundedby the high fuel price (recordedat The wind turbine towers arrive in Unst.
northerly island in the United Kingdom, a US$6.32a gallonat the time ofwriting).
dedicatedteam of local visionarieshave A recent study compiled by Garrad amount ofstorage to providea guaranteed
worked together with global expertsto as- Hassan& Partners.Ltd.. has shown the net supply.
sessthe abilityof alternativeenergysystems load factor output recorded from the five It was realizedat an earlystagethat hy-
to deliver not only electricity,but also the existingcommercialwind turbinesin Shet- drogentechnologycould providean energy
fuel of the future-hydrogen. land to be over 50 percent.This makesthe storagemediumand load-managing mecha-
wind resourcein Shetlandamongthe bestin nismfor the surplusenergyproducedby the
Europeif not the world, but its intermittent wind turbinesin periodsof low consump-
and unpredictablenature meansthat it re- tion. The storedhydrogencanthen be used
quiresa significantamount of load manage- as and when required,either for re-conver-
ment and energystoragein orderto provide sion to electricityvia a fuel cell to balance
a dependableenergysupply.The limitations the output from the energysystemor used
of the isolatedShetlandelectricitynetwork directly as fuel for heating and transporta-
meanthat the Distributionand NetworkOp- tion in much the sameway as LPCor gaso-
erator cannot accommodateany more firm line.
connectionsfrom renewablesources.This
has meant that, for the foreseeablefuture, PUItlleueloImcnt
any renewableenergyprojectswithin Shet- I conceivedthe concept of the PURE
The wind turbine nacellesarrivein the land must either be developedas an ofgrid project earlyin 2002.After growing up on a
(continuedonpage 15)
northernShetlandlslandsin Scotland. system,or must incorporate a substantial
P r o m o t i n g U n s t R e n e w a b l eE n e r g y
(PURE) is a pilot projectthat will demonstrate
how wind power and hydrogentechnology
canbe combinedto providethe energyneeds
for five businessunits in a remote rural in-
dustrial estate. As the first community-
owned renewableenergysystemof its kind
to achievefunding anywherein Europe,it
representsan importantmilestonein the de-
velopmentof greenenergysystems.
PUnI
Baclgromd
Beingthe most northerlyislandin the
U.K.,Unstis effectivelyat the end of the sup-
ply chainfor all externallyproducedcom-
m o d i t i e s , i n c l u d i n g e n e r g y .A n e n e r g y
b a l a n c es t u d y r e c e n t l y c o n d u c t e d o n
Shetland'sthree most northerlyislands-
Unst,Yell,and Fetlar-highlighted that within
Unstmorethan 50 percentofthe residents
spend approximately20 percent of their
At a careersworkshop,
Gazeytalksaboutthepossibilities
that hydrogenffirs.
householdincomeson energy.This energy
200{-
PURI
Ploiect
(continued from page 14)
small farm in the north of Unst, I gained
a n a p p r e c i a t i o nf o r t h e e n e r g yp r e s e n ti n
the natural environment from a very early
age. After graduating in Electronic and
Electrical Engineeringfrom the Robert
Gordon Universityin 2001 in Aberdeen,
Scotland, I looked for ways in which I
could apply the knowledge I gained dur-
ing the degree course to do something
b a c kh o m e i n U n s t .
I brought to the local community de-
velopment agency,the Unst Partnership,
my vision of producing locallyan alterna-
tive to fossil fuels from renewableenergy,
which emits no carbon.The Unst Partner-
s h i p M a n a g e rS a n d y M a c a u l a ys a w t h e
project as helpingto addresssome ofthe
p r i n c i p a ld e v e l o p m e n at s p i r a t i o n so f t h e
community. In laying the foundations in
Unstofan embryonichydrogeneconomy,
The PURE projectwill combinewindpowerand hydrogentechnolog)/to provide
the energyneeds unitsin a remoterural industrial estatein Unst.
for five business
Sandytook my original project conceptand workshops,manysupportedbythe Shetland

developedit into a projectplanthat consists RenewableEnergyForum(SREF). In addition,
of four developmentphases. presentationswere madebythe PUREProjecr
The first phase was to complete a Teamto local politiciansand officialsfrom
technicalfeasibilitystudy that sought to the ShetlandIslandsCouncil(SIC)tomake
m a t c h a v a i l a b l er e n e w a b l ee n e r g y a n d them awareofthe strategicimportanceand
hydrogentechnologyto the needsofsmall potential opportunitiesarisingfrom hydro-
b u s i n e s s e isn U n s t , i n a m a n n e rt h a t c a n gen technologies.As a result,the SIChasin-
act as a demonstrationfor further devel- vested in hydrogenfuel cell kits for use by
opment.At this stage,I was contractedby scienceteachersin localsecondaryschools.
the Unst Partnershipto conductthe feasi- This schoolslrydrogen-learning programis
bility study.Sandyraisedthe financesto now supportedby the SREF.
complete this phase of the project from Duringthis stage,I alsocompletedspe-
ScottishExecutive,ShetlandIslandsCoun- cialisttrainingon fuel celland hydrogensys-
c i l , a n d S h e t l a n dE n t e r p r i s eT. h e f e a s i b i l - tems facilitatedby siGEN,Ltd.,in Aberdeen.
i t y e x e r c i s e r e s u l t e d i n t r a n s f e r r i n g The trainingand educationalelementsofthe
invaluabletechnicaladvicefrom, and forg- PUREProject are being further developed
i n g a c l o s e w o r k i n g r e l a t i o n s h i pw i t h , during 2004 and 2005 through the formal
A M E C , S h e t l a n dW i n d - P o w e r ,L t d . , a n d involvementof RobertGordonUniversityin
siCEN,Ltd.,an innovativeAberdeen-based Aberdeen,collaboratingon a Knowledge
h y d r o g e n f u e l c e l l s y s t e m si n t e g r a t i o n TransferProgramme(aU.K.GovernmentDe-
company. partment ofTrade and lndustry supported
The secondphaseofthe projectwasto program).The KTPis focusedon the imple-
beginthe localacquisitionof specialistskills, mentation ofthe hydrogenelementsofthe
and to promotea more widespreadunder- PUREProjectunderthe guidanceofsiGEN.
standingand awarenesswithin the commu- Again,Sandyachievedfinancialsupportfor
nity of the potential of renewableenergy this elementfrom the mainpublicsponsors
This map of the ShetlandIslandsshows developmentsin Unst.Thiswas startedearly ofthe capitalinvestmentin the PUREproject
Unst as the most northerlv island. in 2003 through community meetingsand (continuedonpage 16)
15-

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Ptomoting

Sandytook my original project conceptand workshops,manysupportedbythe Shetland

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