Knoydart Renewables

Well it's may not be directly anything to do with knoydart renewables but we do supply green power to our wonderful community hall- so please vote for us!!

So an update following on from the landslip. The last week has seen a lot of activity with engineers out inspecting the road and making plans. On the road side, we anticipate a pedestrian scoffolding bridge being put in shortly whilst longer term plans are considered. From a renewables point of view we have been given the go ahead to plan getting a pole re-erected so we can restore power to the last couple of properties. We had our line engineer out last week to assess the si...tuation and consider options. At the moment we are looking at putting up 2 new poles but haven't ruled out putting in an underground cable. Lots to consider - cost,availability of materials, labour to do the works, machinery......Currently we are waiting for information to come back from various sources so we can make a decision. Jim, our line engineer took the attached photos by drone which give a bit of a differant perspective on the works. Thanks to everyone on the broadband rota for keeping the genny topped up with fuel!
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Following last nights landslip, the majority of properties are now back onto hydro. the photos below show the problem we are going to have restoring power to the last property on the line due to the instability of the slope and just getting access to it. The broadband mast is also without power and is running on generator so everyone has access to broadband. Will keep you updated on any changes.

Some of you will know Kye who used to be our operations manager and oversaw the dam works in 2014. He left us to complete his PhD...and to row the Atlantic! In december of this year he and his team will be aiming to be the first carbon neutral team to row the Atlantic. For more information go to https://www.carbonzerow.org/

Following on from our strategy day, we submitted a bid to the Innovation fund to undertake a feasibility on the options for battery storage. We have recently heard that we have been successful and will shortly be recruiting for a consultant to lead on the feasibility: 'This project will undertake a study on the feasibility of exporting surplus energy from the community owned hydro-electric scheme using SLIQ flow batteries and electrically charged electrolyte.
The feasibility ...report will explore the following: • Technical assessment and identification of barriers • Operational issues for Knoydart Renewables e.g. location of equipment, resources needed to run the operation, community impact etc • Regulatory assessment with relevant bodies ( e.g. SNH, H&S, SEPA etc) • Market assessment of potential customers e.g. non grid connected properties and businesses, fish farms, other non-grid connected islands, electric boat operators and electric vehicles users and others. This will include surveys as well as one to one discussions. • Costing of demonstrator project • Business plan for Knoydart Renewables to ensure that the project is financially viable for the company – energy availability, charging rates, opex etc • Feedback from community consultations and presentations • Final dissemination workshop to share learning and good practise to take the project forward to its implementation stage (assuming project viable).' If you would like to recieve a copy of the brief when it has been finalised, please contact angela@knoydart.org
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So whilst everything has been ticking over nicely with the hydro recently, there has been a lot happening behind the scenes. Last week we held our strategy day. The main aim of the day was to generate ideas for how best to utilise our spare capacity for community benefit. Whilst our core business is providing power to the local residents and businesses on our grid, we have the opportunity to be creative with our spare capacity in a way that helps the system work more smoothly... and efficiently - and brings benefits to existing customers - and potentially new ones. One of the action points from the day was to submit a bit to the current round of innovation funding for further work onand this was submitted today. Our next Renewables meeting will be reviewing other work identified at the event which will be discussed at a community meeting planned for later on in the year. We had a great turnout for the day, including our full Renewables board, Steve, Grant, Frank and Gwen; Foundation directors Jacqui and Rhona; Jim and Willlie our maintenance team; Brad, Jamie and Benny from Community Energy Scotland; students galen and Ingrida;Pas and Neil from PMP, Ed Carrick, Eric Dodd and Stewart Gilfillan from the council, Ian Philp from HIE, Jamie Robinson from Alternative Engineering and Margaret Duncan our new finance manager. Thanks also to james Hilder for facilitating the day.
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just another couple of pictures showing the works completed last week

well its just a waiting game now...the concrete was poured and we hope to be able to remove the shuttering shortly. On Thursday, we will have some of the concrete tested to check whether its strong enough for us to start running the pipeline on Friday. We won't be running it until it is ready though. Once we do start the process, we will be monitoring it carefully to make sure there are no leaks or other problems....so keep your fingers crossed for us, still a way to go.........

So Saturday saw materials helicoptered up the pipeline and the last few days have been full on with getting the shuttering for the new concrete blocks in place - not helped by the wintery weather. Huge thanks to all those who persevered and got them installed in time. Concrete is being poured today but it will still be several days before the concrete has set and is strong enough to allow us to get the pipeline back up and running. If you are staying on Knoydart over the bank holiday weekend, please look out for infomation on using electricity wisely whilst we are operating on diesel generator. Thank you!

For anyone wanting a very quick summary of the flow battery project that has taken place on Knoydart recently, follow this link for a very quick ( 1 minute!) overview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpgZ8ReGZ zM

Pipeline update! Many of you will already know that we have a problem with the pipeline that takes water down to the turbine house. One of the anchor blocks that supports the pipeline spilt, early on Sunday morning,causing the pipeline to come out of alignment. This led to loss of power - and an impressive fountain part way down the hill side! The good news is that we are able to undertake repair works ourselves - the less good news is that it is still going to take several ...days to complete the necessary work. The repair works involve casting new anchor blocks, and getting the pipeline realigned. Background and prep work has been ongoing the past few days to make sure that the work is well planned and is undertaken safely and to a good standard. Whilst the works are not particularly technical, the photos below show the difficult conditions in which the work has to be undertaken - so thanks to all who have been working on it todate. Shuttering for the new anchor blocks will take place over the next few days with concrete flown in next week to complete the blocks - weather and other conditions permitting For anyone visiting Knoydart you will not notice much differance unless you are here overnight - as we are on diesel generator there is no power between 11pm and 7am.
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Due to poor weather forecast we are postponing line clearance from Tuesday 11th April to Thursday 13th April. Thank you!

We are going to be undertaking annual line clearance in April which means some properties will be without power whilst this essential work is carried out. On Tuesday April 11th we will be working around the Scottas end of the village and properties from Millburn to Glaschoille will be without power during the day. On Thursday April 20th properties from Kilchoan to Torrie will be without power. Our apologies for any inconveniance - if you would like any more information please contact the office.

If you know anyone who fancies working on knoydart .........

So just wondering if there is anyone out there who would like to work for the Knoydart group who has financial skills? We are currently recruiting for a part time finance and IT manager on a part time basis. This is a great opportunity for someone to work for the Foundation group and to support the work being undertaken by Knoydart Renewables. If you are interested, please contact: Recruitment.knoydartfoundation@outlo ok.com

A project going on behind the scenes at the moment is the Electrical Energy storage for Knoydart.Some time ago we were visited by PMP controls ltd, based down in Edinburgh. They have been working on a flow battery storage system and wanted to see if it could be trialed on Knoydart. With funding from Local Energy Scotland CAREs innovation fund, a 5KW system is being trialed. We recently recruited Jamie Robinson, a local renewable energy consultant, to manage the project on our behalf. He has been busy liasing with PMP to ensure everything goes smoothly with the project at the Knoydart end, when it comes to installation next year. Its a very small scale trial for all of us but we hope it might give us an indication of whether batttery storage has a role to play for us in the future. Watch this page for more updates!

We have had lots of film crews over recently to focus on lots of differant aspects of our work. the video below was made by energy assets who installed the load switching system on our new heating system in the bunkhouse. Its a great wee video - made in the most glorious of weather and well worth a watch https://vimeo.com/182063519 we also have a short term contract available to manage a project on our behalf - its approx 4 to 8 days a month between November and March. we have been successful in securing some funding for a battery storage project, working with PMP partners. if you are interested, drop us a message.