Case Studies

• Energy Research
• Pentland Firth and Orkney Waters
• The Growth of Wind Power
• From Research to Realisable Assets
• Marine developments fuelled by fresh investment
• Innovation Snapshots – Quick Look
• Kishorn Port

These case studies explore some particular aspects of the Highlands and Islands' new energy industry.

Energy Research

The dramatic emergence of the Highlands and Islands as a major – but still fledgling – player in the deployment of new energy technologies has excited industry and academia worldwide.

Less visible, but equally exciting, is the range of activity by research institutions and others in the area, exploring yet newer renewable energy sources, and also the vital technical, operational, environmental and other implications of energy activity.

Highlands and Islands-based scientists are pushing the boundaries of knowledge in areas spanning generation of energy from algae to creation, storage and use of hydrogen fuel. A big research topic in this naturally resource-rich area relates to environmental impacts of energy production and – also not unexpectedly, given the nature of this area – topics like energy implications for buildings are coming under scrutiny.

• Biofuels from beneath the sea
• Converting and transmitting energy from the elements
• Co-existing with wildlife and communities
• Zero-emission, Off-grid Energy Generation

View Energy Research Case Study

Pentland Firth and Orkney Waters

The waves and currents of the Pentland Firth and Orkney Waters have an awesome destructive power, known and feared by mariners for centuries.

But now they offer an equally impressive productive power, for electricity generation, off the northern tip of mainland Britain.

• More than half the UK’s top ten tidal sites
• Energy Potential Matching Nuclear Power
• First Full-scale Test Centre
• Research Initiatives Stimulated

View Pentland Firth and Orkney Waters Case Study

The Growth of Wind Power

The Highlands and Islands area’s disproportionate share of Europe’s wind resource, making the region’s onshore turbines the most productive in Britain, has helped drive the industry’s rapid evolution.

Windpower generation, currently the area’s fastest-growing renewables sector, has progressed from initial experimental activity, through a rapidly expanding range of commercial and community developments.

Natural assets are being augmented by a substantial skills and technologies base, stemming from a long history in the oil and gas and other engineering-related industries.

• A Lion’s Share of Europe’s Wind Resource
• World’s First Deepwater Offshore Project
• World’s Biggest Turbines Deployed
• Supply Chain Innovation and Expertise
• New Community Involvement Models
• Islands of Opportunity

View The Growth of Wind Power Case Study

From Research to Realisable Assets

Greenspace Live, a commercial spinout based in the Outer Hebrides, is meeting new market demand with its web portal-based software which allows organisations to monitor the energy performance of their buildings.

• Collaboration creates momentum
• Seizing market-led opportunity
• A shared regional agenda
• Keeping and attracting talent
• Building technology platforms
• Linking know-how to need

View The From Research to Realisable Assets Case Study

Marine developments fuelled by fresh investment

Five companies are driving forward high-potential renewables projects, having won the bulk of a £15 million national award ‘pot’ to boost marine generation technologies development.

Together awarded £13 million from the fund, all are active in the Highlands and Islands. Their projects exemplify the pioneering technologies fuelling the region’s momentum, and its global reputation as a ‘new energy’ hub.

They address challenges of large-scale wave power generation, inter-connection of tidal energy arrays, and building, deploying and demonstrating differing types of wave and tidal device.

The July 2010 awards were made from the WATERS fund (Wave and Tidal Energy: Research, Development and Demonstration Support), a collaboration between the Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise, with European funding support.

• World-scale wave project
• Next-generation wavepower device
• Connection and control for tidal arrays
• Taking prototype towards full size
• Developing a low risk entry-level device

Visit Marine developments fuelled by fresh investment case study

Innovation Snapshots – Quick Look

• Innovations with global impacts
• A turbine that reaches parts that others can’t
• New ways to manage development risks
• Smart technologies for deepwater offshore wind energy
• Pioneering world’s marine energy performance standards
• Zero-emission solutions for worldwide communities

Visit Innovation Snapshots case study

Case Study – Reviving a ‘Sleeping Giant’ Fabrication Yard

A combination of private and public sector vision and investment looks set to revitalise a ‘sleeping giant’ fabrication yard in the Scottish Highlands.

The massive Kishorn yard and dry dock, created more than 30 years ago to build super-sized structures including the world’s largest man-made moveable object – the 600,000 tonne Ninian oil platform – has lain practically dormant for heavy industry since the early 1990’s

Now, however, the Wester Ross facility has been earmarked for a key potential role in the imminent offshore wind turbine construction boom and the emerging wave and tidal generation industry.

• Commercial and public sector determination
• Starting from strength
• Exploiting cost advantages
• A planned approach

Visit Kishorn Port case study

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