Tailored support to help communities understand the changing energy system and develop low carbon, locally owned energy projects.
The programme consists of workshops which encourage interaction and discussion between participants.
A case study approach is used which allows for an in-depth, multi-layered exploration of the complexities of energy-related projects in real-life settings.
The workshops are followed by a tailored package of one-to-one support designed to help community groups move their energy project ideas forward.
Outer Hebrides Local Energy Hub: Sustainable and competitive options to increase resilience of remote businesses.
The project is taking place on the Isle of Lewis across two sites – a waste management facility and a fish hatchery – demonstrating a circular energy economy that will have relevance and learning for other projects.
Waste Management Facility
The Creed Integrated Waste Management Facility (IWMF), located just outside Stornoway, Isle of Lewis, is owned and operated by Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (CnES), the Local Authority for the Western Isles. Current features of the site include an anaerobic digester (AD), combined heat and power plant (CHP), electric boiler and thermal store, a wind turbine and a hydrogen system comprising electrolyser, storage and refuelling station.
Fish Hatchery
The Scottish Salmon Company (SSC) owns and operates four hatcheries, 12 marine fish farms and one processing facility on the Island of Lewis and Harris. The salmon hatchery at Barvas, Isle of Lewis, will be the main focus of this project, although fish waste from all SSC sites in Lewis and Harris will be able to be deposited at the Creed IWMF.
OHLEH intends to integrate fish waste along with household and garden waste anaerobic digestion at Creed IWMF. In managing fish waste in this way rather than sending it all to landfill, OHLEH will have a positive impact both environmentally and economically.
Biogas produced from the waste in the AD is used to fuel the existing on-site CHP. Some of the electricity generated by the CHP is sent to a hydrogen system to produce hydrogen and oxygen. The system will also make use of some of the electricity from the wind turbine on site, which is often subject to curtailment due to grid constraints. In this way, OHLEH maximises the use of existing assets.
Both hydrogen and oxygen are captured, compressed and delivered to the hatchery for local use. Oxygenation is essential to aquaculture, and hydrogen will be used in a small fuel cell which will provide electricity to the site. Energy and oxygen can both be seen as critical supplies. OHLEH opens a route for sustainable and competitive options to increase resilience of remote businesses.
The hydrogen system at Creed includes a refuelling station, and some of the hydrogen will be used to refill a dual-fuel Refuse Collection Vehicle (RCV) operating on hydrogen/diesel. The RCV will be used to collect local waste, part of which ends in the biogas production system.
Most of the equipment for this project is already installed; essentially OHLEH looks at how to link the existing assets together, leading to the creation of a circular and innovative local energy economy.
Technical Information
Wind turbine
300kW Grid connection limited to 225kW
Anaerobic digester
Capacity: 960m3 Production: Between 60m3 and 80m3 per day (as a general average)
Expected biogas yield
448,412m3/year (mix fish/domestic waste)
CHP
240kW electrical and 370kW heat output Minimum combusting 80Nm3/h of biogas (c. 48Nm3 of Methane) Annual operating hours expected to reach 4990h
ReFLEX – Responsive Flexibility – is widely regarded as an energy system of the future and will be demonstrated in Orkney by a consortium of six locally-based partners.
April 2019 – The first phase of a new £28.5 million project to create an Integrated Energy System (IES) in Orkney, Scotland, was launched to digitally link distributed and intermittent renewable generation to flexible demand
The ReFLEX Orkney project will demonstrate a first-of-its-kind IES interlinking local electricity, transport, and heat networks into one controllable, overarching system
The creation of a ‘smart energy island’ is the ultimate aim of the project, demonstrating the energy system of the future, reducing and eventually eliminating the need for fossil fuels
The project is funded by UKRI through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund
ReFLEX Orkney Ltd and the ReFLEX website was launched in December 2020
“This brilliant news is built on the high level of collaboration between enabled communities and energy innovators in Orkney. A successful partnership that has started to show how we can supply and manage local energy in a more sustainable and equitable way, and, with this project, we all have an outstanding opportunity to further test and develop the new, fairer, and better future models of ownership and value systems pioneered by communities like those in Orkney“
Nicholas Gubbins, CEO of Community Energy Scotland
At the heart of the project is the demonstration of flexible energy balancing technologies. For example, the project aims to deploy:
Up to 500 domestic batteries
Up to 100 business and large-scale batteries
Up to 200 Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) chargers
Up to 600 new electrical vehicles (EVs)
An island community-powered electric bus and e-bike integrated transport system
A FlexiGrid software platform, newly designed by one of the partners, will be put into effect, enabling smart monitoring and control of the flexible technologies to charge during periods of peak local renewable generation, and release stored energy during times of peak demand.
These technologies will be introduced under attractive leasing-type finance and novel ways of ownership with the aim of the end user avoiding major capital investment – this will include individuals and local organisations.
This pioneering project will help Orkney maximise the potential of its significant renewable generation capabilities, help to ensure higher quality and more affordable energy services, as well as further lowering the county’s carbon footprint by decreasing reliance on imported carbon-intensive grid electricity from the UK mainland.
“We need cheaper, cleaner and flexible energy and Orkney will be at the heart of this.
“We all need energy systems that are cheaper, cleaner and consumer-friendly. We have a great opportunity with the ReFLEX project to show just how innovation can deliver this energy ambition for the future. Supported by the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, ReFLEX can drive investment, create high-quality jobs and grow companies with export potential,”
Rob Saunders, Deputy Challenge Director, Prospering from the Energy Revolution, UK Research and Innovation
Once demonstrated and proven in Orkney, it is expected that the IES model and associated integrated energy service supply framework will be reproduced in other areas across the UK and internationally, building long term export opportunities for the ReFLEX project partners and helping to expand the flexible and renewable-based energy systems.
“What we are seeing here on Orkney is a test bed for the energy system of the future. These smart systems are a key part of our modern Industrial Strategy and will provide cheaper, greener and more flexible access to energy for everyone. What we learn from these innovations could one day be rolled out across the UK and exported around the world and we’ll be able to say it was ‘Made in Orkney’,”
Claire Perry, Energy and Clean Growth Minister 2017-2019
Update: The ReFLEX project drew to a close on 31 March 2023.
The ReFLEX project has resulted in many significant changes for Community Energy Scotland, the project partners, and the Orkney communities as a whole. The partnership collaboration, along with the funding from the UK Government’s Prospering from the Energy Revolution (PfER) fund, enabled multiple successes during the last 4 years. In addition to the overarching achievement from all the partners, CES was able to build upon local efforts to shift the transport sector towards zero emissions with the expansion of electric vans and bikes on four of the islands, and support the growth of a fully electric car club. Our support to homeowners in Orkney included the rollout of over 100 energy monitor, to allow access to real-time data on how people are using energy within their home, together with work where we assessed the project’s customer offerings to be as inclusive as possible. CES is grateful for the opportunities presented through the project’s funding, and has already begun building upon the results and learnings achieved as a result of it.
Watch the YouTube video here for the detailed outcomes and lessons learned.
