Estimated Price

£200,000

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Summary

The project aims to maximize the production of local renewable electricity supply into the National Grid, generating income for the Islay Community Benefit Fund for distribution to the community.

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Description

In 2024 Islay Energy Trust was awarded a grant to install a 100kw solar array at the community owned wind turbine site at Castlehill to complement the existing local energy generation and aid Islay on the journey to becoming Carbon Neutral. 

Islay is one of the chosen six islands to benefit from Carbon Neutral Islands status under the Scottish Government project to help island communities decarbonise and reach Net Zero.

Now that this pilot phase has been completed, IET would like to increase the capacity of the solar array to the maximum levels permitted under the current licence with SSEN to a 330kw array.

The project is shovel ready and would triple solar energy production on the island, enabling IET to take full advantage of the remaining grid agreement capacity with immediate effect, as all required permissions and impact assessments are already in place. 

Islay's Grid is severely constrained for a variety of reasons and to begin the move to carbon neutrality, local renewable energy is not only key, but part of a much larger, complex energy requirement for the island and it’s distilling sector. 

If successful the project installation phase will run for approximately 6 months after award and is expected to generate local green electricity for at least 20 years, generating income for the Islay Community Benefit Society for community distribution.