Viking Energy has confirmed rumours that there was a fire at its onshore wind farm in Orkney following social media speculation.
“Shetland Fire and Rescue attended the Viking Windfarm site in the early hours of 29th December in response to a fire which had broken out next to one of the turbines,” Viking Energy confirmed.
Viking Energy’s onshore wind project is a joint venture with SSE Renewables and the Shetland community.
It was said that a generator had caught fire in Nesting near the end of 2023, according to Facebook group Facebook group Stop More Windfarms on Shetland.
The last turbine was installed at Viking in August last year with the project set to produce 433 megawatt (MW).
This was the last of 103 wind turbines set around the central Mainland of Shetland.
According to the project’s schedule, Viking is set to be delivered this year.
At peak generation the wind farm will be capable of producing up to 1.8 terawatt hours (TWh) of renewable electricity annually – enough to power almost half a million typical British homes, including every home in Shetland.
Viking Energy (VE) commented: “Nobody was harmed during the incident and the fire was quickly extinguished.”
“VE added that the cause of the fire was discovered and measures have been taken to try and prevent this happening again in future.
“A fault to a mobile temporary generator was identified as being the cause of the fire.
“Procedures have been put in place to minimise risk of potential reoccurrences.”
Since work began on the Viking onshore wind farm in Shetland in 2020, the project has spent more than £70 million.
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