POWER FOR THE PEOPLE...

Bluemull Sound (geograph.org.uk)

A maritime tidal turbine, which Scottish Government Ministers claim will be the world's first community-owned device of its kind, is going to be built in Scotland. The Nova-30 turbine will be used by the North Yell community to power an industrial estate and ice plant in Shetland. The Nova-30 (30kW) tidal turbine employs a horizontal axis, three-bladed rotor to extract reliable and predictable energy from the tides. The turbine, which will be deployed in the Bluemull Sound between the islands of Yell and Unst (in Shetland), will be owned by the North Yell community, which received a grant of £150,000 from the Scottish Government to help its development. The tidal turbine will sit in the Bluemull Sound between the islands of Yell and Unst. It will be built by Scottish firms Steel Engineering and Nova Innovation. While there are plans to deploy tidal turbines off our coast - the key bit here is the community beneficial aspect, now there’s an idea...