The Three Dancing Ladies of Gigha: wind energy in an island community

Turbines: 3 Vestas V27 255kW turbines The place: The Isle of Gigha is the most southerly Hebridean Island. It has beautiful, unspoilt beaches and is home to the world famous Achamore Gardens. When the owner put the Island up for sale in 2001, the local community bought the island. With the help of the Lottery Community Land Trust, they set up the charitable trust, the Gigha Heritage Trust. The opportunity/challenge: When the community bought the island, there were a number of challenges facing the local community, including poor quality housing, a dwindling population and a floundering economy. In a bid to tackle these issues, the trust identified a number of projects to invest in the islands. This included the development of a wind farm designed to generate an income to make the island more financially self-sufficient. The approach: The community embarked on a project to install three 225 KW turbines on the island. It was funded by a three-way mix of grant funding, loan finance and equity finance. The windmills themselves were purchased second hand, from a wind farm in Cumbria. Because many wind farms are developing and replacing medium sized turbines with much larger ones, there are second hand turbines available with plenty of life left in them. There was a large amount of support for the wind project on the islands, receiving 100% support in a local vote.

The result: By 2004 three turbines had been installed, making use of the free resource that is abundant on the island. The three turbines are fondly known as the dancing ladies, Creideas, Dchas, and Carthannas (Faith, Hope and Charity). The turbines make a net profit of 100,000 a year. They produce a total of 675 kW maximum capacity, which is exported directly to the national grid. The money is reinvested into the island by the trust.

The Isles of Scilly Renewable Energy Co-operative