News archive - Week ending 5th October 2007

New Hydro-electric Schemes

A £140m hydro-electric plant at Glendoe above Loch Ness should start producing power from winter next year, according to its owners Scottish and Southern Energy. This is the first large-scale hydro-electric scheme to be built in almost 50 years. The power station will produce about 180 million units of electricity in a year of average rainfall. Operating at maximum capacity it should be able to generate enough electricity to power 250,000 homes.

A 1,000m dam has been built at the head of Glen Tarff and an underground power station inside Borlum Hill. Water will be collected from a new reservoir about 600m above Loch Ness. The scheme involved drilling major tunnels to carry large volumes of water and a temporary village was created for the site's 250 personnel.

Also contributing to the growth of hydro-electric power will be the newly approved 1.5 megawatt hydro-electric station at Carnoch, capable of powering around 1,000 homes. The development is upstream of Loch Sunart, approximately 30 km to the south-west of Fort William and 3.5 km east of Strontian. It comprises two water intakes on the Allt an Fhaing and the Allt Duibhleac Riabhach and a powerhouse located south of the River Carnoch.

Pentland Firth a Key Site for Tidal Power

A new report by the Sustainable Development Commission (SDC) has identified the Pentland Firth as a key site for creating electricity from tidal power. The study suggests that 5% of the UK's electricity could be generated using fast-flowing tidal currents and almost 60% of that power could be sourced around the firth. However, SDC said the energy would only be harnessed if the testing centre in Orkney realised its full potential.

The SDC report, Tidal Power in the UK, assessed the UK's potential for both types of tidal power; tidal stream and tidal range. Tidal stream technology uses the energy contained in fast-flowing tidal currents generally found in constrained channels. While tidal range harnesses the water movement in estuaries with large differences between high and low tides.

Other potential locations for tidal stream highlighted in the report included Shetland, Kyle Rhea in the north-west Highlands, Islay and the Mull of Kintyre.

Wind Turbines Power School

Balfron High School, in rural Stirling, has become the first in the region to install its own wind turbines. The two free-standing 6KW turbines will generate 22,000 KWh a year, saving nearly £2,000. It is hoped that the project will provide enough energy to cover the building's lighting costs for a year.

The total energy produced and carbon savings from the turbines can be monitored daily by pupils, using a display in the school's central atrium. The new turbines form part of Balfron High School's sustainable energy initiative, set up by students and staff.

The scheme, which received grants from the Scottish Community and Householder Renewables Initiative (SCHRI), Stirling Council and nPower, cost a total of £51,572.

Cardenden, a new Eco Town

The village of Cardenden could become one of the first eco towns in Scotland. Proposals for a major regeneration project based on the 'eco-towns' concept have gone on show to the public.

The scheme aims to transform the four former mining communities of Auchterderran, Bowhill, Cardenden and Dundonald through a housing-led regeneration programme and create of a new town centre in a riverside location. A wide range of house types which would use the latest technologies and renewable energy sources would be built, along with retail and office buildings in and a shopping centre. New and improved local facilities would also be added including better transport and park and ride facilities.

Andrew Liddell, Regional Manager at Banks Developments, the planners involved, said: "The principles of sustainability are increasingly at the centre of all building design, and the proposals we are putting forward will set new standards in the provision of zero carbon buildings in Scotland".

Tourism Industrys Carbon Off-set Scheme

An innovative voluntary carbon-offsetting scheme was unveiled at Scotland's first national sustainable tourism conference which was attended by more than 100 tourism industry professionals. Climate Change Scotland is the idea of the Tourism Innovation Group (TIG), and aims to encourage those involved to reduce their emissions and off-set those that are unavoidable.

Like many similar schemes this one works by calculating the contribution to climate change caused by a particular activity and then offsetting that impact by investing funds in projects such as forestry, sustainable transport or energy efficiency that either lock-up or prevent the release of CO2 equivalent generated by the activity.

The difference with this initiative is that the projects are all based in Scotland, and ideally have some connection with a visitor experience and help to complete the link between the activity, the carbon emission and tourism. It is estimated that up to £2million could be generated for sustainable environmental projects by the third year of the scheme's operation. Some projects that are undergoing external appraisal to calculate their carbon and other benefits include proposals from New Caledonian Woodlands, the John Muir Trust and the Scottish Wildlife Trust.

Scotland's tourism industry has the aim of being Europe's top sustainable tourism destination by 2015. Climate Change Scotland is currently finalising its funding and governance arrangements, and hopes to go fully live from December this year. Finance for the initial feasibility study came from BAA Ltd, Scottish Natural Heritage and VisitScotland.