World Wide Broadcast For Renewables Event

26 February 2003

The biggest ever conference to be held in the Western Isles will be broadcast live to a world-wide audience over the internet and will be attended by the UK Energy Minister and the first European Commissioner to visit the Islands.

‘Creating Sustainable Futures - A Renewable Energy Event’ takes place from the 19th to 21st March and will hear key note addresses by the UK Energy Minister, Brian Wilson and the European Commissioner for Transport and Energy, Loyala de Palacio. Also speaking will be Sir Mark Moody-Stuart, the former chairman of Shell who recently chaired the G8 Task Force on Renewable Energy - with particular emphasis on its massive potential role in developing countries.

A Renewable Energy Conference will take place at Lews Castle College and is being hosted by the Western Isles Alternative and Renewable Energy Partnership (WIAREP). Other participants in the conference will include Western Isles MP Calum Macdonald, MSP Alasdair Morrison, representatives from the renewables industry, HIE and other key players. The sponsors for the event are Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, Renewables UK, Lewis Windpower, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Western Isles Enterprise Community Energy Unit, Scottish Natural Heritage, Wavegen, Scottish and Southern Energy, Cambrian Engineering and Farm Energy.

UK Energy Minister Brian Wilson MP said: "I warmly congratulate Comhairle nan Eilean Siar on initiating this important conference which will emphasise the global, national and local potential of renewable energy.

"This will be Commissioner de Palacio's first visit to Scotland and I am delighted that she has agreed to come to the Western Isles. She is an excellent Commissioner and is greatly looking forward to the event. Mark Moody-Stuart was responsible for a quite inspirational report on the role of renewable energy in bringing electricty to corners of the world
which otherwise would have no hope of obtaining it, with the potential to change life prospects for millions of people.

"It will be a great event and it will help to put the Western Isles centre-stage in the whole renewables revolution."

For the first time from the Western Isles, the conference will be broadcast live on the Internet with viewing available at the town Hall in Stornoway and Further Education centres in Barra and the Uists. In addition, a web bulletin board is up and running at www.cne-siar.gov.uk/wiarep where questions on renewable energy topics can be posted in advance of the Conference for discussion.

A community event, featuring workshop sessions for schoolchildren, presentations and discussions, will be running in the Town Hall during the course of the conference. The Community event will also feature the live broadcast of the conference and is open to everyone with an interest in renewable energy, including local businesses, offering free access to information with an opportunity for questions and discussion on Thursday evening.

Chairman of WIAREP, Mr. David Currie, said: “We are delighted that this major event is taking place in the Western Isles which is rapidly gaining a reputation as a future centre of Renewable Energy. We are fortunate to have been able to attract such a high calibre of guest speakers and we are determined to ensure that people from across the Western Isles have access to the conference proceedings. This is an issue which will impact on all our lives in the future and the Western Isles is well placed to be a key player in the development of the renewables industry. I would particularly like to thank the sponsors who have made this event possible”.

The Conference will cover such issues as an overview of the islands potential for renewables, how the community can benefit, the prospects in the marine environment, wind energy developments in the islands and the potential for related local manufacturing.

Keep up to date with event news at www.cne-siar.gov.uk/wiarep.