By: Derek Leask, Executive Director Shetland Heat Energy and Power
In a recent study of Shetlanders it was found that up to 44% of our DNA was of Scandinavian origin. That suggests a lot of Viking tourists formed strong relationships in the islands many years ago!
Shetland was actually part of Denmark up until 1469. At that time King Christian the 1st who was not quite as well off as he wanted to be, pawned the islands to King James the third of Scotland as part of a dowry payment for his daughter Margaret’s marriage to the Scottish king. This was an I.O.U. that was supposed to be redeemed but Scotland formally annexed the islands three years later and they never did return to Denmark. A local restaurant in Lerwick called the Dowry commemorates this event today. However there is no need to travel far in Shetland to see the constant influence of Scandinavian history. From street names such as King Haakon and King Harald street; hotels such as the Kveldsro and Busta, and place names such as Lerwick, Muckle Roe and Tingwall, Scandinavian influence is all around. What does this all have to do with the Lerwick district heating scheme I hear the reader ask? Well, back in the 1990’s the Shetland Islands council started looking for new solutions for disposing of domestic and commercial waste and reducing its environmental impact. A UK based organisation may have been expected to look nationally for solutions. But with the close connections still prevalent with Scandinavia, Shetland looked across the North Sea to Denmark for inspiration in finding the answer to the problem. After contacts were made and exchange visits had taken place the outcome was to invest in a project to build a waste to energy plant producing heat for a local district heating scheme to supply the islands capital town of Lerwick. Copenhagen based waste to energy (WTE) engineers, COWI, were engaged to design and create the system and Shetland Heat Energy and Power (SHEAP) came into existence in 1999.
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