The Supreme Court's rejection of Sustainable Shetland's appeal against the Viking Energy windfarm in Shetland could mark the creation of a whole new industrial sector for the isles, according to a local energy firm.
The Shetland company Energy Isles, which is developing a wind farm project in Unst and Yell, welcomed the decision to let the Viking Energy project proceed.
Reacting to the final judgement issued by the Supreme Court in London, chairman Paul Riddell said Viking would open the door to further renewables projects that would significantly benefit Shetland communities.
“It’s very rare that an island community with a successful but fragile economy gets to create a whole new sector, but that is what Viking and the interconnector will enable Shetland to do,” he said.
“This judgement gives Energy Isles the potential to bring much-needed income and employment to those areas of Shetland like Unst and Yell which are simply not benefiting from the current economic good times.”
He added: “It’s also about looking ahead 20, 30, 40 years and trying to build a future for our children and grandchildren when the world we take for granted today will have changed dramatically.”