Wireline Magazine Issue 50 - Spring 2021

production at scale. Surplus power would effectively be stored as hydrogen rather than curtailed. Newcombe said the Viking Wind Farm was expected to have a load factor of 48%, adding that back-up systems were still needed when the wind drops. To this end, Viking has signed a deal with Wartsila for 8MW of quick response back-up, and similar discussions are ongoing with other companies. Battery storage is also being considered: “We are just about to launch an onshore power system study which will also look at back-up” until hydrogen is available, Newcombe added. The scheme would be particularly beneficial for Shetland itself, which is reliant on large volumes of expensive, imported fossil fuels. Currently that puts Shetland’s supply chain at a disadvantage compared to the mainland. “If [Shetland] doesn’t create its own clean fuels it will have to import them at expense in future,” said Newcombe, “wind and 60,000 tonnes of hydrogen could replace fossil fuel dependency”, with hydrogen and its derivatives (methanol, ammonia) used in power back-up and directly for fuel, including for the islands’ fishing fleet - eliminating the islands’ 650,000 t/yr of CO 2 emissions. Eventually the bulk of hydrogen produced would be exported, and Newcombe said he had already had strong interest fromGerman and Dutch companies keen to import hydrogen to supplement limited domestic output. As well as excellent on and offshore wind resources, Shetland may be able to use or adapt existing oil and gas infrastructure, and has plenty of industrial land

The next batch of west of Shetland oil and gas projects are expected to require up to 150-200MW of firm clean energy capacity from Shetland.

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