History
In 2015, Shetland Aerogenerators erected a 3MW Enercon turbine at Luggie’s Knowe, to the north of Lerwick. The Enercon E-82 E4 turbine has a tip height of 121m. The power from the turbine is exported through SSE’s Active Network Management System, which was introduced as part of the NINES (North Isles New Energy Solutions) project[1]. NINES was designed to let more renewable sources feed in to Shetland’s local electricity grid.
The Luggie’s Knowe Wind Farm project was previously brought forward by Scottish & Southern plc. Shetland Aerogenerators took over the development of the consented site in 2014. The site has planning permission for 3 turbines but only one turbine has been installed to date.
Civil works, including excavations, construction of the access road and pouring of the concrete bases, was carried out by local firm Garriock Bros while Orkney firm Bryan J Rendall undertook the specialist electrical works.
The windfarm has been operational since early 2016, supplying energy to Lerwick Power Station – enough for 3,245 homes[2]. The Luggie’s Knowe windfarm saves an estimated 4,452 tonnes[3] of CO2 emissions per year, when compared to conventional fossil-fuel based energy generation.
Every year a share of the revenue from the Luggie's Knowe project is awared through Shetland Communitiy Benefit Fund towards supporting Science, Engineering, Maths and Technology in local schools.
The naming of Luggie's Knowe
The site where the wind turbine sits is named after Luggie, a recurring wizard character from Shetland folklore. Knowe means hillock or knoll so “Luggie’s Knowe” is his monument.
Shetland has an incredible Norse history and the name Luggie is a local variation of Loki.
It is said that Shetland’s Luggie could catch fish (some say ready-boiled) from this site by dropping a fishing line through a hole in the rock. No-one else could find the hole and this trick annoyed the local fishermen who had no choice but to go to sea in dangerous weathers. Eventually they burned Luggie at the stake but no-one has yet found the fishing hole.
