Shetland, the UK’s windiest region, connected to the GB electricity grid for first time, enabling c.500k homes to be powered by renewable energy
For the first time ever, hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses can now be powered by homegrown clean energy from the Shetland Islands, the windiest part of the UK.
It follows completion of two major clean energy projects on the islands – construction of SSE Renewables’ Viking Wind Farm, which will be the most productive onshore wind farm in the UK, and the energisation of SSEN Transmission’s 260km (160 mile) subsea link to transport electricity between Shetland and the GB mainland.
Together, the projects represent more than £1bn of investment by businesses within the SSE Group. They are part of a £20.5bn commitment the Perth-headquartered business is making to clean energy infrastructure in the UK to 2027 – one of the largest private investment programmes the country has ever seen.
Completion of the Viking onshore wind farm also takes the UK’s combined onshore and offshore wind capacity to more than 30GW, enough to meet the annual power needs of 26m homes and cut carbon emissions by more than 35m tonnes a year. The Shetland projects alone will produce enough clean energy to power the equivalent of c.500,000* homes annually.
First Minister of Scotland, John Swinney, said:
“The completion of these projects is a significant step in unlocking the green energy potential of the Shetland islands.
“These developments will not only aid us in our efforts to decarbonise our energy system, but help to stimulate sustainable economic growth in the local area.
“It is welcome that Scotland’s onshore wind capacity continues to expand. This is a vital component of our mission to bring about a just transition to net zero.”
UK Energy Secretary, Ed Miliband commented:
“By switching on Viking, hundreds of thousands of homes In the Shetlands and right across the country will benefit from cheap, homegrown energy, and this project has created jobs and growth for local communities.
“This shows why we need more developments like this to make Britain a clean energy superpower- and that is why we lifted the onshore wind farm ban in our first 72 hours in Government.
“This will be a crucial part of delivering our mission for clean power by 2030 – reducing our reliance on volatile fossil fuel markets, boosting our energy independence and protecting consumers.”
The projects supported around 650 jobs during peak construction and contributed £125m to the local Shetland economy. Continuing operations of the Viking Wind Farm will also support 35 permanent roles, and it’s estimated Viking’s community fund will contribute more than £70m to the local Shetland economy over the lifetime of the wind farm.
Alistair Phillips-Davies, Chief Executive of SSE said:
“Delivery of both the Viking Wind Farm and Shetland HVDC Transmission link are big engineering achievements and together represent a major milestone on the UK’s path to a clean energy system.
“Shetland and the wider North Sea have long supported the country’s energy security and now they are playing a significant role in decarbonising our power system.
“But it has taken nearly two decades for these projects to move from concept to completion and if we are serious about delivering clean power by 2030 – less than 2,000 days away – we need to make it much easier and faster to build this kind of mission-critical infrastructure.
“At SSE we are ready to play our part, delivering more vital projects, supporting more good jobs and ensuring our local communities share in the economic opportunities of this transition.”
Renewable UK Chief Executive, Dan McGrail commented:
“When the Viking project was first conceived nearly twenty years ago, the UK’s wind capacity stood at less than five gigawatts, and turbines were around 75% less efficient than they are now.
“Reaching the milestone of 30GW is a phenomenal achievement for the entire industry and further underlines the fact that wind is now the backbone of our future energy system, having generated a record 28% of our electricity last year.”
The UK’s most productive onshore wind farm
Viking’s 103 Vestas turbines will generate 443MW of installed wind-powered capacity and be capable of generating around 1.8TWh of renewable electricity annually – enough to power the equivalent of almost half a million typical homes each year.
Shetland is the windiest region of the UK, according to the Met Office, with an average annual wind speed of 14.6 knots. As a result, Viking is expected to be the UK’s most productive onshore wind farm in terms of annual electricity output^.
The development of the wind farm has taken nearly 20 years from initial concept to completion, with planning permission granted by the Scottish Government in 2012. Construction of the wind farm began in the autumn of 2020 with the last of over 100 turbines being installed at the site in August 2023.
At peak construction Viking Wind Farm created around 400 jobs with a further 35 full-time local operation and maintenance jobs expected throughout its lifetime. More than 70 local companies have also benefited from the SSE Renewables project, with around £80m spend in the local supply chain.
Delivering one of the UK’s biggest Transmission projects
The 260km HVDC cable runs from a new converter station at Kergord in Shetland to a new switching station at Noss Head on the Scottish mainland, near Wick in Caithness.
The subsea cable was installed in three campaigns using specialist cable-laying vessel NKT Victoria throughout 2022 and 2023, with the final section installed on the seabed last autumn. With final energisation now complete Shetland will be connected to the GB electricity grid for the first time ever.
The link will provide green energy for the islands and allow power to flow from the UK mainland, giving security of supply.
Work is continuing to connect Shetland’s existing electricity distribution network to the transmission network, connecting Shetland’s homes and businesses to the GB grid for the first time via the new Grid Supply Point being constructed at Gremista. The Kergord-Gremista 132kV overhead lines and underground cable circuits currently being installed, which are scheduled for completion in 2025, will then connect the HVDC link to the new Gremista Grid Supply Point.
Investing in the communities hosting this mission-critical infrastructure
The Viking Community Fund is the largest for a single renewables project in Great Britain – totalling over £72 million.
Managed by community representatives it focuses on priority themes identified by Shetland residents, including young people, housing and transport. And has already supported over 197 local projects.
Up until now the Shetland Islands have not been connected to the UK’s energy system, with the electricity on the islands provided by two power stations.
