Heat Smart Orkney
Improvement of services / infrastructures, Poverty and social exclusion, Employment
This project addresses a common issue in rural Scotland: the limited capacity of local grids to take on renewable electricity generation during periods of high generation and/or low demand. This project tackles this problem in an innovative way, by integrating electric storage heaters and hot water thermal storage into houses on islands in Orkney with a local participating turbine. When 'curtailment' threatens, an ICT (information-community-technology) system activates electric storage heaters in participating households, diminishing the risk of curtailment in the process.
Networking, Services delivery, Public participation
Community Energy Scotland, Scottish Government, Vcharge (UK) Ltd and Catalyst
In terms of outcomes, this project addresses energy poverty (amongst the highest in Scotland in Orkney) by lowering energy bills and providing energy services; it also allows community renewables infrastructure to generate a greater revenue, which is in turn re-invested locally through a diversity of initiatives and pathways. • Demand side management allows participating turbines to continue to generate during period of marginal curtailment. • Replication, scaling and use of lessons learns can be applied elsewhere in Scotland. • Jobs have been created on the island of Rousay. • Greater independence from a centralised energy system. • Control over energy future, and energy security.
* Information at the level of NUTS 3 or local regions.