Shetland Islands Council has secured a £133,000 Scottish Energy Efficiency Programme (SEEP) grant to examine how energy is used on the islands in all domestic and commercial properties.

As well as providing energy efficiency data, the LHEES will also examine how energy can be supplied to Yell in a cost-effective and sustainable manner, while the Strategy will also explore the potential for renewables and whether they can be extended to further support the community.

In 2016, Shetland Islands Council was one of the original 11 ‘pathfinder’ local authorities for the Programme, having received c £500,000 under phase one of SEEP.

The funding was used to improve energy efficiency in 30 domestic properties served by the Lerwick District Heating network, and in 10 local authority buildings served by this network.

The information gathered via this new award will be analysed alongside that obtained by the Lerwick work, and will help develop a Shetland-wide strategy, which will be a statutory requirement by 2018/19. North Yell Development Council, Nova Innovations and Peel Energy are also supporting the Council in this development.