Orkney Islands: Living Social Innovation to the Full

The 70 islands that make-up the Orkneys, an archipelago in northern Scotland, is producing cutting edge social innovation wave and tidal technology that's putting the UK on the map as a global leader. Orkney has 50 years experience in the renewable sector and is recognised internationally. It is estimated that the Orkney Islands could generate 18,000 GWh of renewable energy annually.

The weather and the climate caused by its exposure to the Atlantic and North Seas have shaped the life of the islanders as well as the island itself. The lack of trees or crops able to be grown here continues to provide inspiration about community engagement, supply chain development, social innovation and development to produce renewable electricity. One Orkney-based enterprise is the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) which is at the forefront of the development of marine-based renewable energy technologies that generate electricity by harnessing the power of waves and tidal streams. It is the first centre of its kind to be created anywhere in the world, offering developers the opportunity to test full scale prototypes in the sea.

A few weeks ago the world's largest and most powerful single-rotor tidal turbine, built by Atlantis, a tidal technology provider, was the first in Scotland to be grid-connected at the EMEC. The aim is to generate up to 400 MW of power, sufficient for around 400,000 homes. A landmark in social innovation and renewable energy which has brought visitors and researchers from all over the globe, it is attracting people to live, work and study on the island. EMEC, along with other international companies, is all snapping up the graduates on Orkney and employing them.

Figures available in real time on the Orkney Renewable Energy Forum website shows that output from commercial, community and agricultural wind turbines is often so high the island is now self-sufficient in electricity, relying less on imported fossil-fuel based power from the mainland. The Forum aims to promote, social innovation, develop sustainable local energy resources, local skills and expertise. There are now opportunities on Orkney that did not previously exist on an island that has traditionally relied on farming and fishing.

The Orcadians are an old traditional community that goes back centuries and like their ancestors, they are using their natural environment to sustain their way of life through renewable energy. Social innovation is changing the working lives of the people here. It is regenerating the community, bringing new jobs, skills and creating a strong supply chain. Today, fishermen and farmers live alongside marine biologists, divers and tidal turbine technicians in an island community that is probably more advanced and modern than many a neighbourhood found on the mainland.

Photo Credit: Atlantis Resources Cooperation