The Orkney Islands have been leading the way in transitioning to renewable energy generation for decades. Orkney has a long-standing heritage as a national location for testing modern wind turbine technology, is home to the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) – the world’s leading wave and tidal energy demonstration facility, and is pioneering the development of a green hydrogen economy. Today, Orkney generates over 100% of its electricity demand from renewables (mostly wind and solar) and has done since 2013.
Orkney’s community are at the heart of this energy revolution, with 10% of homes on Orkney having microgeneration (compared to 2.8% UK average) and 375% more electric vehicles per home than the UK average.
Building on this, the ReFLEX Orkney demonstration project was launched in April 2019 to create a first-of-its-kind integrated energy system across Orkney, interlinking local electricity, transport and heat networks into one controllable, overarching system. The project aims to decarbonise Orkney’s energy system and increase the use of local renewable generation through the roll out of domestic and commercial batteries, up to 600 electric vehicles in Orkney and the introduction of a competitive local renewable electricity tariff.
Following successful demonstration in Orkney, it is intended that ReFLEX be replicated across other islands around the globe. Funded by the UKRI through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, the project is being led by EMEC and includes Solo Energy, Aquatera, Doosan Babcock, Community Energy Scotland, Heriot-Watt University, and Orkney Islands Council.