Caithness - The Energy Environment

3rd June 2007

Last week saw the attendance of twenty-three Caithness based businesses and organisations at the All-Energy renewable energy conference and exhibition in Aberdeen, the biggest such event in the UK. The two day event was attended by 4000 people from all over the world (compared to 2850 in 2006). There were 350 exhibiting companies from home and overseas (compared to 220 last year) and the highly topical conference had over 200 speakers.

It is estimated that at least 700 people visited the prominent Caithness Energy Alliance stand, that was funded by UKAEA on behalf of the NDA and HIE Caithness & Sutherland.

Carroll Buxton of HIE Caithness & Sutherland said "We are delighted to have supported the Caithness Energy Alliance in exhibiting at the All Energy Event in Aberdeen. There was a huge amount of interest in the Caithness Energy Alliance stand and all those who took part reported making excellent contacts resulting in the potential for a wide range of activities to come to Caithness. This event has built on the work we have been undertaking over the past years to diversify the economy and the whole area has raised its profile and standing in this rapidly developing global sector. I am confident that our area has the potential to become a key location in the research, development, manufacture and logistics for the emerging energy sectors."

John Farquhar of the NDA and Simon Middlemas of UKAEA also spent time on the stand along with Carol Gunn of HIE Caithness & Sutherland.

This first marketing visit to the 7th All-Energy event by such a Caithness group was organised by Ormlie Renewables, part of Ormlie Community Association. Ormlie Renewables is interested in promoting the use of renewable energy resources in many aspects of Caithness life, including household, community and business.

Other projects include Energy SOS, a free advice service run county wide from their new project office in the old Pentland Housing Association office in Davidson's Lane, Thurso. Energy SOS has the aim of supporting the national objective of eliminating fuel poverty by 2016, by making house visits to help people reduce their fuel bills, save energy and keep warm. Project partners include Highlands & Islands Fire & rescue Service, The Highland Council's Energy Efficiency Advice Centre, HomeAid, Caithness Citizens' Advice Bureau and Pentland Housing Association, who have provided the project with premises. Other funders include Communities Scotland and the Scottish Community Action Research Fund (SCARF) with further support from North Highland College and the Environmental Research Institute.

Ormlie Renewables is also pursuing a community owned renewable energy scheme, the income from which they propose should be used to support a grant scheme for household renewable energy installations. Ormlie Renewables is interested in working in partnership with other local groups as well as looking at a county wide fund to help support such initiatives. This reflects their interest in helping the wider community by capitalising on their experience in community regeneration, social housing, community programmes and training, and renewable energy.

The Alliance's presence in Aberdeen was supplemented by Ackergill Tower and the Captain's Galley Seafood Restaurant in Scrabster as well as a donation of Old Pulteney whisky from the Wick distillery which is renewable in its own right through its successful involvement in the Wick District Heating Scheme.

Caithness Heat and Power who have connected 230 houses to the green energy scheme are currently putting the finishing touches to the new gasifier plant which sits alongside the distillery where a heat exchanger takes waste heat from the whisky making process.

The whisky tasting at the event was well-received by visitors to the stand who included marine developers interested in the potential 1GigaWatt of power that could be generated by the tides in the Pentland Firth. Two bottles of Old Pulteney were raffled, with the winners Jim Rennie of St Andrews University and Graham Bibby of AWS Ocean Energy in Alness both expressing an interest in working with Caithness companies.

Lunchtime buffets also drew potential partners to the stand with several food businesses confirming how impressed they were with the Mey Selections produce.

The Alliance distributed a purpose made brochure describing each Alliance member and the advantages that Caithness has to offer. The artwork for the brochure and stand backdrop featured photos of Caithness, including a spectacular wave, captured during the recent world surfing championships, which the Alliance used as their central theme, 'Caithness The Energy Environment'. The artwork was produced by Duncan McLachlan of Johnson Controls who also took the photographs.

The overall impression for visitors was good with much interest expressed in Caithness businesses and facilities. Caithness exhibitors included several Dounreay contractors, with fabrication and machining businesses well represented by the likes of Gows Lybster, JGC, Nicolson Engineering, Specialised Engineering Services (Forss) and Subsea7.

Will Campbell of JGC said, "JGC are delighted with the opportunities that may be available following attendance at the conference and thank Louise Smith of Ormlie Renewables for their efforts in leading the Caithness presentation and increasing local business awareness. With the down turn in the Dounreay work load, this offers an exciting new horizon for Caithness where all the expertise, skills and facilities are available to make the community a Renewables Centre of Excellence."

Willie Watt of Subsea 7 said, "This event was crucial for Caithness to have attended as it was clear that there is major interest from both home grown and foreign companies to set up and work in Caithness. From a capability perspective the Caithness Energy Alliance was able to demonstrate a package of resources that is second to none, right on the door step of the Pentland Firth. This ability will enable Caithness to become a key player during the next phases of the marine renewable developments."
Marketing our infrastructure were Scrabster Harbour Trust and Wick Harbour Authority who emphasised our good sea connections and port facilities.

Sandy Mackie, Trust Manager for Scrabster Harbour Trust, said, "Our attendance at the All-Energy exhibition, as part of the Caithness Energy Alliance, confirmed the great potential of Caithness to support the renewable energy sector. We see great growth prospects in this sector bringing valuable new business to Scrabster and to the economy of the northern Highlands".

Gordon Doull of Wick Harbour Authority said, "I was very impressed with exhibition and the volume and depth of enquiries far exceeded our expectations. The Wick Harbour Authority is very keen to facilitate the expansion of renewable market within Caithness and this event was a very important step towards this goal. We are blessed with a good transport infrastructure and between the ports of Wick and Scrabster we can accommodate most of the future requirements of both oil and gas and the emerging marine renewable market."

Local research facilities through UHI (University of the Highlands & Islands) North Highland College, Thurso and its research institutes, the Environmental Research Institute (ERI) in Thurso and the Decommissioning and Environmental Remediation Centre (DERC) were also represented with the ERI also having their own stand.

The ERI chose the conference to announce four post doctorate research posts in renewables, two at the ERI and two at ICIT in Orkney.

Renewable energy research is also being carried out through an exciting UHI MSc and post-graduate work placement programme in renewable energy, funded by Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Highlands & Islands Partnership Programme and the European Social Fund, and managed by the ERI. This programme is supported by partnership working with local and national agencies as well as with home grown businesses throughout the Highlands and Islands. The first year of this programme has seen research work carried out all over the Highlands & Islands from renewable hydrogen research at the PURE Energy Centre in Unst, Shetland and tidal power work in Thurso to biomass research in Inverness and smart building simulations in the Western Isles.

Stuart Gibb of the ERI said, "The latest renewable energy research, the developing expertise and the services the ERI has to offer were showcased at All-Energy. We are looking at how our first class novel research can make valuable contributions to the rapidly expanding renewables industry and we attracted interest from many prospective researchers, partners and companies, from Durham University and the University of Strathclyde to Garrard Hassan consultants, Airtricity and Vestas."
ERI cover a range of research in the renewables sectors, including marine, offshore wind and biomass. At the exhibition ERI exhibited digital maps depicting detailed estimates of tidal and wave energy in the Pentland Firth area, the development of offshore wind climatology from satellite data and biomass research in chemical analysis of biomass grasses and cattle slurry anaerobic digestors.

Two of our house building companies, Norscot Joinery, based at Bower, and Woodco Scotland, based at Tofts of Tain were represented. Other companies included ABSL Power Solutions who have a local facility in Thurso, Caithness Heat & Power, Cryojetics, Ethan Consultancy, Glenrhu Enterprises, New Park Management who run the Forss Business & Technology Park, Ormlie Renewables, Safety and Ecology Corporation (SEC) Ltd, based at Bettyhill and Zenex Solutions based at Lybster.

Fiona Henderson from Safety & Ecology Corporation Ltd, which carries out environmental support work in many fields and who helped man the Caithness stand, commented, "Preparing for All-Energy has required a huge amount of work, mainly by Ormlie Renewables. Their efforts are greatly appreciated and are the reason the event has been such a huge success for Caithness. As a direct result of networking at the conference, Safety & Ecology Corporation Ltd has already been asked to provide a quote for environmental support services for the installation of a wind turbine in the central belt. The skills in Caithness are such that we can support the renewables industry all over the country."

Louise Smith, Ormlie Renewables Project Manager, said, "It was great to be part of an event which involved all kinds of Caithness businesses, working together for mutual gain. We are keen to see the work of the Caithness Energy Alliance continued, with other local companies hopefully joining us in the future."

The recently formed Alliance aims to pursue energy related opportunities, notably those in the renewable energy field, as well as the offshore market. The Alliance can be contacted through Louise Smith on 01847 893486 or by email: louise[AT]ormlierenewables.co.uk

The Alliance brochure is available from the individual company members and also through HIE Caithness & Sutherland's Tollemache House office in Thurso as well as Thurso and Wick libraries.