Meygen Driving Forward With Pentland Energy Project

11th December 2011

One of the first companies to get going with their plans to extract the huge energy potential form the Pentland Firth is Meygen. Their plans were unveiled to Caithness people at Mey Hall a few days ago.

Despite the wintery conditions, nearly one hundred people visited the Mey Village Hall on December 7th and 8th 2011 in order to view the progress the MeyGen project development has been making. This is the second round of formal public engagement that the project team has carried out whereby aspects of the project timescale, environmental surveys, expected onshore works and the technical solution for exporting power to the grid were presented on notice boards. Members of the MeyGen team were on hand to answer questions as well as to take on board feedback as to how the project design might be optimised to suit any local concerns. Visitors also were asked to complete questionnaires concerning the development which will be independently reviewed.

The principle aim of the two days was to inform local residents in and around Mey about the project site and the content of the forthcoming Environmental Statement that will be lodged with the consenting authorities in the New Year. One of the main components of this application is the onshore works that will be determined by the Highland Council and includes three Power Conversion Centre buildings to be constructed close to the foreshore either at Ness of Quoys or Ness of Huna. Design plans of the buildings and associated infrastructure were on display as well as photomontage pictures taken from a number of viewpoints in the local area.

The three buildings to be erected for the power lines to come ashore will cost in the region of �2.6million and will be one of the early signs that massive things are going to happne in the Pentlasnd Firth. The exhibition showed how power lines will connect 86 turbines in the first phase of the development.

The company's information at the exhibition and online says -
"The Power Conversion Centre (PCC) will comprise of 3 Power Control Unit Buildings (PCUBs) and a control building. The PCUBs will house converters, switchgear and transformers. Export cables from the of shore tidal array will be brought into the PCC where the electricity will be converted and transformed up to grid voltage before export to the national grid. The PCUBs will be a maximum of 45m x 28m x 13m (148ft x 92ft x 43ft). Designed to minimise PCC visual and landscape impacts from key viewpoints (Canisbay village and church). The temporary HDD site includes the drill-ing area and laydown area for bore casings. The PPC site allows access for installation and maintenance of equipment whilst keeping the footprint
to a minimum."

Most of the nearly 100 visitors to the exhibition days were in favour of the project which willbe one of the first to capitalise on the huge energy potential of tghe Pentland Firth.

Meygen hope to obtain planning permissions in the near future and this looks to be just the beginning of the huge developments heading to Caithness and surrounding areas.

For more about the project and Meygen go to www.meygen.com