Google Street View opens doors to Scottish renewable energy projects

A unique project which puts Google Street View users at the heart of renewable energy projects has launched.  

From a hydropower plant deep beneath a mountain to the top of a wind turbine, Scottish Renewables’ Renewables360 is a global first-of-its-kind.

It takes the public behind the scenes of the country’s 42,000-strong, £10 billion a year renewable energy industry.

Green electricity and heat projects appear on Google Maps and are brought together in a hub on the Renewables360 home page.

Sites which are covered by the Renewables360 project include the world’s largest floating offshore wind farm near Aberdeen, the UK’s first large-scale, high-temperature water source heat pump and the top of one of the UK’s tallest onshore wind turbines.

EMEC’s wave and tidal energy test sites and onshore facilities are available to view as well as Orbital Marine Power’s O2 device demonstrating at the Fall of Warness.

Pictures taken deep inside the 440MW ‘hollow mountain’ pumped storage hydropower plant in Argyll also feature, alongside images from inside the world’s most powerful tidal turbine in Orkney.

The full list is:

• EMEC’s wave and tidal energy test sites, Orkney
• Orbital O2 tidal turbine at EMEC, Orkney
• Cruachan pumped storage hydropower station, Argyll
• Kincardine floating offshore wind farm, Aberdeen
• Muirhall onshore wind farm, Lanarkshire
• Queens Quay water source heat pump, Clydebank
• Renewable Parts warehouse, Renfrew
• Solar EV chargers and battery, Stirling
• Stirling Energy Centre – taking heat from waste water
• A renewable energy control room, Glasgow

Claire Mack, Chief Executive of Scottish Renewables, said: 

“The energy industry is central to all our lives, but until now the way in which electricity and heat are generated has been something of a mystery to the public. With 350 member companies we’re used to visiting the amazing places where clean energy is generated, and Google now gives us the opportunity to share that experience with the rest of the world.”

“Some of the places we’ve visited to bring Renewables360 together are truly remarkable. The images which are now available for the world to view are breathtaking and take the public to places they would never otherwise be able to visit. Renewables now provide more than 100% of Scotland’s electricity demand. As an industry we believe that’s something which everyone in Scotland can be proud of and should be able to share. Renewables360 is one part of that, and this is just the start – as our industry continues to grow we’re seeking more projects to include so that Renewables360 becomes a world-class resource which we hope others will copy.”

Source: Scottish Renewables | Renewable 360