The chief executive of SSE has warned that the process of building infrastructure must be accelerated in order to meet net zero targets.
The company has completed two big projects in Shetland which will see a subsea cable car connect the islands to mainland Britain's electricity grid for the first time.
Britain's windiest region will be powered by domestically generated renewable energy from the Viking wind farm which will have the ability to power hundreds of thousands of homes.
However, the development of the Viking wind farm has taken almost 20 years from the initial concept to completion, a time frame which is not sustainable to meet the UK's environmental targets according to SSE's boss.
Alistair Phillips-Davies, the chief executive of SSE, said the projects were "big engineering achievements", adding that they "represent a major milestone on the UK's path to a clean energy system."
The new facilities are expected to be the UK's most productive wind farm.
However, Mr Phillips-Davies warned that Britain has to accelerate the delivery of these infrastructures to achieve its net zero goals.
“It has taken nearly two decades for these projects to move from concept to completion, and if we are serious about delivering clean power by 2030 — less than 2,000 days away — then we need to make it much easier and faster to build this kind of mission-critical infrastructure.”
Preparatory work on the site only began in 2022, despite the Scottish government granting planning permission for the site in 2012. It took another eight years before any construction work began on the wind farm.
The first minister, John Swinney said the projects marked “a significant step in unlocking the green energy potential of the Shetland Islands."
"These developments will not only aid us in our efforts to decarbonise our energy system, but help to stimulate sustainable economic growth in the local area," he added.
Together, the projects represents a £1billion investment by SSE as part of a £20.5billion commitment to produce clean energy infrastructure in the UK by 2027.
The opening of the wind farm means the UK now has combined onshore and offshore wind capacity of more than 30GW, meaning the annual energy needs of 26 million homes could be met.
Chief executive of Renewable UK, Dan McGrail hailed this milestone as a "phenomenal achievement", but "further underlines the fact that wind is now the backbone of our future energy system.”
“When the Viking project was first conceived nearly 20 years ago, the UK’s wind capacity stood at less than five gigawatts, and turbines were around 75% less efficient than they are now," he added.
FTSE 100
The UK's flagship share index, the FTSE 100, was down 2-points at 8,343 shortly after opening this morning.
Brent crude oil futures were up 0.10%, trading at $77.66 a barrel.
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