The 103 turbine 443MW Viking Energy Wind Farm has recently been commissioned and is now producing enough energy to power almost 500,000 homes. With 15 years of planning and four years of construction, it is the largest onshore wind farm in the UK in terms of energy production.
The wind farm is connected to Mainland Scotland via the 260km 660MW high voltage DC (HVDC) interconnector cable, the first time Shetland has been connected to the National Grid. Power flows from the turbines at 33KV AC to the HVDC converter station at Upper Kergord, where it is converted to 132KV DC. The other end of the cable is at Noss Head, near Wick.
SSE renewables and SSE Transmission hosted a celebration dinner on 3rd September followed on the 4th with a visit to the site and cutting the ribbon to mark the official opening of the wind farm.
At the end of August we were commissioned by the BBC to provide drone footage of the wind farm for a national news item to be broadcast just before the official opening ceremony.
In addition, they requested footage for a ‘From Above’ documentary series available on the iPlayer streaming platform. Narrated by James Cook, the mini documentary entitled ‘Shetland’s Mega Wind Farm’ showcases the massive site spread over approximately 55 square kilometres.
We spent the day travelling around the extensive tracks capturing a wide range of footage using different focal length lenses to capture the scale and perspective. The massive turbines rise from the ground 155m to the blade tip, earlier in the day some of the turbines were covered by cloud to the hub and even below, making some dramatic and atmospheric footage!
Viewers in the UK can watch the 10 minute documentary on iPlayer,
