For Argyll has campaigned, from the start of interest in tidal energy harvesting, for the potential of the Sound of Islay to be recognised and brought into play as soon as possible.

The Sound was included in the Scottish Government’s early identification of three potentially valuable areas off Scotland’s north and west coasts – the Pentland Firth the Sound of Islay and the North Channel between the Mull of Kintyre and the Northern Ireland coast.

Now the Islay Energy Trust (IET), a community-owned charity based at Bowmore, is to lead a trial tidal energy project in the Sound of Islay, due for installation in 2011.

The Trust has completed and published a pre-feasibility report on the project. The plan is for two small arrays, each with five medium sized devices, to be installed in the sound, connected to the Grid and producing between 2 and 4MW.

The project will cost £10-15 million and is to be undertaken in collaboration with Aberdeen’s Robert Gordon University.

IET’s calculations suggest that a commercial rate of return is achievable if the costs of the project remain close to best possible current estimates and with the Scottish Government’s proposed levels of capital and revenue support. The Trust also calcuates that up to 7,000 tonnes pa of carbon dioxide emissions coud be saved.

The pre-feasibility report completed by IET and Robert Gordon University has confirmed the existence of adequate tidal resources and identified specific areas suitable for the installation of small-medium sized devices. It outlines the key areas of interest:

• the likely size of the resource
• the seabed structure and associated benthic flora and fauna (the benthic zone is the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean or a lake)
• potential sites for devices including areas to be excluded
• the littoral wildlife communities and basline bird and mammal surveys (the littoral zone extends from the high water mark, which is rarely inundated, to shoreline areas that are permanently submerged)
• preliminary analysis of the business case
• the political and social acceptability of such a project
• grid connection issues
• early consultation with stakeholders, including statutory consultees
• application to the Crown Estates for a sea bed lease

Identified risks to the project include the five year limit on a Crown Estate sea bed lease, likely to be inadequate for raising the necessary project finance; the timescales required to raise finance from target sources; the continuation of the Scottish Government’s financial support proposals at a time of profound recession; the grid capacity for Islay, Jura and Coklonsay. (The development of grid capacity is a nationwide issue which all renewable developments require to be resolved.)

This project is a timely and well considered one. The preliminary work done is substantial. The Islay Energy Trust is to be congratulated and supported in its far-seeing and energetic efforts. The full pre-feasibility report is available in pdf format on its website.

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