Week commencing 7th April 2014 Energy & Business Services: Atlantis Resources Ltd has announced an extension to its partnership with Chinese company Dongfang Electrical Machinery which will enable testing of the Atlantis AK1000 tidal turbine in China. As previously reported, Atlantis now owns Meygen Ltd., and Atlantis tidal devices will be deployed at the Meygen tidal site in the Inner Sound of the Pentland Firth following Scottish Government consent last year, and Atlantis’ successful raising of project finance.
Week Commencing 31 March 2014 Energy & Business Services: SSE’s transmission business is consulting on the next phase of plans to enhance the electricity transmission grid in the north. The company this week held two days of public consultation in Thurso and Mey on plans to construct a new substation at Phillips Mains near Mey, which will connect to a new substation near Thurso via a new 132kV overhead line.
Highland and Islands Divisional Commander delighted with progress made during first year of Police Scotland. The Divisional Commander for the Highlands and Islands, Chief Superintendent Julian Innes is delighted with the positive progress made during the first year of Police Scotland and has confirmed that crime continues to decrease.
Week commencing 24th March 2014 Energy & Business Services: Following last week’s news of consents given to the two offshore wind developments in the Moray Firth, SSE has this week announced its major review of offshore wind commitments in the UK. Whilst the company has announced plans to scale back investment in renewables, the good news is that investment in a 375MW Beatrice project will continue, with further key project decision points expected at the end of 2014 and in early 2016.
Week commencing 17thj March 2014 Energy & Business Services: Scottish Government this week gave consents to two applications to develop offshore wind sites in the Moray Firth. The applications from Beatrice Offshore Windfarm Ltd (BOWL) and Moray Offshore Renewables Ltd (MORL) were granted subject to specific conditions relating to environmental monitoring.
Wick Harbour Authority is making progress with its plans to create a heavy-lift facility on the commercial quay at Wick harbour, with contractors Gunns Lybster Ltd having now begun the work. The project, and its associated dredging works, was supported by CNSRP partners HIE and NDA respectively and is the first of several proposed phases of work to position the harbour as a key player in the energy sector, with the current focus being on potential to benefit from the development of Offshore Wind in the Moray Firth.
Week Commencing 10th March 2014 Energy & Business Services: Wick Harbour Authority is making progress with its plans to create a heavy-lift facility on the commercial quay at Wick harbour, with contractors Gunns Lybster Ltd having now begun the work. The project, and its associated dredging works, was supported by CNSRP partners HIE and NDA respectively and is the first of several proposed phases of work to position the harbour as a key player in the energy sector, with the current focus being on potential to benefit from the development of Offshore Wind in the Moray Firth.
Week Commencing 3rd March 2014 Energy & Business Services: It was good to hear this week’s announcement of new ownership and opportunities for AGM Batteries and ABSL Power Systems in Thurso. Under the new structure ABSL Power Systems will become Denchi Power Systems Ltd (named after Denchi House in Thurso, where both businesses are based).
Police in Caithness received a report of theft between 1000 and 1400 hours on Wednesday 05 March 2014, from the Scottish and Southern Energy windfarm site at Bettyhill. Six large drums containing electricity cable worth £2800 were reported as being stolen.
Week Commencing 24 February 2014 Energy & Business Services: There have been some pieces of news this week relating to Atlantis Resources, the company that now owns tidal developer Meygen. It has been awarded €7.7M in EU funding through the 7th Framework Programme to support the design, installation and operation of its bigger 1.5MW tidal turbine the AR1500 at the Meygen site in the Inner Sound of the Pentland Firth.
Week Commencing 10th February 2014 Energy & Business Services: As promised last week, further information on the consultation events that Pelamis Wave Power will be undertaking in the north next month as the company prepares to submit application to build a wave site at Farr Point in North Sutherland. Events will be held on Monday 24th March (Caithness Horizons, Thurso, 17.00-20.00); on Tuesday 25th March (Bettyhill Hall, 13.00-16.00 and Strathy Hall, 17.30-20.00) and on Wednesday 26th March (Durness Hall, 17.00-20.00).
A pioneering Dounreay innovation has allowed the team taking apart the Prototype Fast Reactor to complete one of the final phases ready for demolition. The centre guide tube - which once housed the reactor's control and shutoff rods - was successfully raised from the reactor core, demonstrating that internal fixtures can be safely removed.
Week Commencing 3rd February 2014 Energy & Business Services: Pelamis Wave Power will be undertaking pre-planning application consultation events in the north next month as the company prepares to submit application to build a wave site at Farr Point in North Sutherland. Events will be held in Bettyhill, Strathy, Durness and Thurso from 24th to 26th March.
Dounreay welcomed Fergus Ewing MSP, Minister for Energy, Enterprise and Tourism to see the world leading decommissioning work taking place at the site. He also met with Andrew Wettern, business development director for Cavendish Nuclear, who was accompanying Hidehiro Segawa of Hitachi-GE Nuclear Energy on his knowledge sharing and fact finding visit to the site.
Housing Regulator publishes research on rent arrears six months into Welfare Reform. The Scottish Housing Regulator today published the findings of the second phase of its research on the early impact of Welfare Reform on social landlords.
DSRL will be running a free workshop to train the supply chain on the new Complete Tender Management (CTM) system. The workshop will be held on Thursday February 20, 2014 at the North Highland College, Thurso from 1pm to 4pm.
At approximately 12:17 hours on Tuesday 17 September 2013 police received a report from a member of the public that a body of a man had been discovered on the shoreline of Occumster. This sadly turned out to be Stefan Sutherland from the Lybster area.
Week Commencing 27th January 2014 Energy & Business Services: Scottish Renewables’ “Offshore Wind 2014” Conference and Exhibition took place in Aberdeen this week. The keynote speech was from Fergus Ewing MSP, the Scottish Government’s Energy, Enterprise and Tourism Minister.
The Scottish Police Authority (SPA) will consider strategic proposals from Police Scotland to enhance the service provided by its Contact, Command and Control Centres at the Authority’s next public board meeting on Thursday 30 January in the Trades Hall, Glassford Street, Glasgow. In considering this proposal, the SPA will test the evidence that underpins the recommended course of action.
Police Scotland Highland and Islands Division is currently recruiting new Police Constables and Special Police Constables and are hosting a Facebook chat this week to answer any questions people have on the subject. The chat event will take place virtually on the Police Scotland Highland and Islands Divisonal Facebook page on Thursday 30 January 2014 between 18:00 and 20:00 hours to discuss the topic of Police Officer recruitment with Chief Superintendent Julian Innes.