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Wind Energy Projects
Details of the various wind projects we have built, or are currently involved with, can be found at our archive pages, www.orkneywind.com/explore, and you may download any of these documents for free under a creative commons licence.
Greenskares Energy Ltd; Easter Melrose Windfarm
Orkney Sustainable Energy are the project designers and site managers of the Easter Melrose windfarm, located east of Macduff in the north-east of Scotland. The project uses three Enercon E44 500kW wind turbines, and was switched on and commissioned at the end of 2015. This is a Class 1 site and has a strong wind regime; the project produces around 7,500 MWh of electricity per annum.
The construction of the Hammars Hill windfarm began in the late summer of 2009, with the project operational in October 2010. This was the first commercial windfarm in Orkney to be open to investors, and successfully raised all the required project finance; the local authority is the largest shareholder. Operations have been very successful, with the development achieving high levels of production and capacity factors have exceeded 50%.
Orkney Sustainable Energy are Site Managers, and Richard Gauld is Technical Director.
Westray Wind Power; Tuquoy
Orkney Sustainable Energy are managers of the WWP Tuquoy project on the island of Westray in Orkney. This turbine is an Enercon E44, and the project has been operational from 2012, producing around 3200 MWh of electricity per annum into the Orkney grid. Richard Gauld is the manager and technical Director.
Vestas V52 850kW. Site management and operations on behalf of Orkney Renewable Energy Ltd. The project is fully funded by local investment, with all revenues retained within Orkney. In addition there is a local community fund distributed each year to Burray Community Association and other charities. This turbine has been operating since 2005, and is one of the most productive machines of this scale anywhere in the World. Richard Gauld has been technical Director over the project lifetime.
Enercon E44 900kW; production began in 2012. Site management and operations on behalf of Thorkell Renewable Energy Ltd, and Richard Gauld is the technical Director. The project was again fully funded by local investment, with all revenues retained within Orkney. A local fund is targeted at projects in Deerness.
The Burgar Hill wind energy project began as a research site in the early 1980s, and over the last thirty years has seen a variety of wind turbines installed, originally for research purposes and latterly for commercial generation. Richard Gauld was the Senior Technician on the experimental project, and the layout of the current operational phase was designed by Orkney Sustainable Energy.
The Birsay Energy turbine is positioned on the Birsay Moor in Mainland Orkney, near to the road to the Burgar Hill site. The turbine is an Enercon E44 900kW machine, commissioned in October 2009. The turbine was one of the first wind energy projects to be located within the boundary of an SPA and SSSI, demonstrating that wind turbines and nature can co-exist on the same site.
Richard Gauld is the Managing Director and Orkney Sustainable Energy are Site Managers.
Barns of Ayre is a windfarm of three Enercon E44 900kW wind turbines located in Deerness, eastern Orkney. The turbines are connected to the island 33kV network, using the Orkney ANM, one of the first smart grids to become operational in the UK.
Orkney Sustainable Energy are Site Managers.
The Herscha project is part of Newlands Farm near Auchenblae in Aberdeenshire, and has been operational since 2011. This project was designed by OSE, and a second phase is now being constructed; planning consent for two further turbines was granted in 2015.
Orkney Sustainable Energy are Site Managers.
One of the very first turbines in Aberdeenshire was erected at Mains of Bogfechel, near Whiterashes. A small Polenko turbine demonstrated that this area was appropriate for wind energy production, with an Enercon E48 now operational and providing 800kW of renewable electricity.
Orkney Sustainable Energy are Site Managers.
One of the very first experiments into wind energy took place at Costa Head, on the northern edge of Mainland Orkney. We have obtained a short video of the construction of this project, demonstrating that the concept of electricity from the wind was viable over 60 years ago. It is revealing that the design of this experimental turbine is very similar to that being used in modern machines; a ground-breaking innovative project.
