UK energy minister Malcolm Wicks has published consultations on connecting remote sources of renewable energy to the transmission grid.
The DTI has published a public consultation document that outlines the proposals for giving renewable developers on the Scottish islands of Shetland, Orkney and the Western Isles a discount on the charges they will have to pay to use the high voltage transmission grid.
The consultation document will also present the results of a study commissioned by the DTI from independent consultants on the impact of transmission charges on renewable generation in the North of Scotland.
Speaking at the opening of Scottish and Southern Energy’s 20 MW Artfield Fell wind farm in Dumfries and Galloway, Wicks said: “The two consultations will have a major impact on how the sector develops in future. Limiting the charges paid to the National Grid by renewables generators on the Scottish Islands is vital if their vast potential is to be realised.“