The Irish Scottish Links on Energy Study (ISLES) is a joint project between the Scottish Government, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (Northern Ireland) and the Department of Energy, Communications and Natural Resources (Ireland) to provide a feasibility study into the development of an offshore transmission electricity grid around the west coast of Scotland, the north and east coasts of Northern Ireland, the Irish Sea and the west coast of Ireland.
In June 2008, the partnership successfully applied for EU Interreg funding ( http://www.seupb.eu/) towards the cost of the feasibility study and the Scottish Government is leading this project in conjunction with, and on behalf of, its international partners.
The west coasts of Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland have huge potential for capturing wind, wave and tidal energy generation. However, each region faces common challenges; their electricity grid infrastructure, to date, has not been developed as an offshore grid to exploit the major marine renewable resource and the grid infrastructure is poor. As a result the capacity to generate electricity in these regions is not matched by the ability to collect and transport that energy to market. The Scottish Government believes that subsea transmission options must be considered if we are to fully capitalise on our abundant renewable energy potential.
The project will examine the feasibility of the construction of an offshore electricity transmission network linking potential offshore sites for the generation of renewable energy in the coastal waters of Ireland, Northern Ireland and Western Scotland. This project has significant policy implications across a range of areas. The development of a subsea grid will provide significant economic, environmental and technical opportunities to encourage electricity generation from renewable resources including wave energy and deep water offshore wind. The project will also contribute to meeting renewable energy and climate change targets.
The project will offer the partners countries a wide range of economic opportunities associated with renewable generation such as engineering, construction, supply chain opportunities and manufacturing and support services for the grid, particularly in remote and fragile areas. Linked to this there is the opportunity for the partner countries to lead on the research and development of cutting edge technologies with global market potential. In developing renewable generation and technologies the grid will therefore also contribute to addressing climate change. The outcomes of the study, which will be owned by the study partners, will help influence the development of offshore grid and the North Sea, and as the project is Interreg funded the intention is to share learning with other EU members states.
In 2008, a pre-scoping grid study was published to identify the requirements of a full feasibility study for capitalising on offshore renewables potential between the west coast of Scotland and Ireland. The Pre-Scoping Study: Cross Border Requirements for an Offshore Electricity Transmission Grid between Scotland, Northern Ireland and Eire was commissioned by the Scottish Government, in partnership with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (Northern Ireland) and the Department of Energy, Communications and Natural Resources (Ireland). The report by WSP Environmental UK was commissioned to provide the Terms of Reference for a full feasibility study, including indicative costs and timeframes for the completion of each element. This report has been used as the basis for the procurement specification.
The full feasibility study is due to start in November this year, following a competitive tendering process to appoint the consultancy team. It is anticipated it will take two years to complete the project.
