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 launches today (October 30).
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 as blue dots on Google Maps, so are visible to anyone browsing Google Street View, and are brought together in a hub on the Renewables360 home page.
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.”
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.
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:
- Cruachan pumped storage hydropower station, Argyll
- Kincardine floating offshore wind farm, Aberdeen
- Muirhall onshore wind farm, Lanarkshire
- Orbital O2 tidal turbine, Orkney
- 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
- Wind farm control room, Glasgow
- Shawfair district heating, Midlothian
Claire continued:
“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.”
Ends
Notes
How to access and view Renewables360 imagery:
- The Renewables360 homepage contains links to initial images for all the projects featured, as well as descriptions of the projects.
- On a computer:
- To move around inside Google Street View point your cursor in the direction that you want to go. Your cursor becomes an arrow that shows which direction you're moving, and clicking will take you to the next image in the project. To look around, click and drag using your mouse.
- You can go to Google Maps at any time by clicking ‘View on Google Maps’ in the black box in the top left corner.
- If the image you’re viewing has numbers to the right-hand side, click those to move up and down inside a structure (for example the onshore wind turbine at Muirhall Windfarm). - On a mobile: swipe the screen to look around an image, then click on the arrows to move into new areas.
- Renewables360 has been enabled by support from Scottish Renewables member organisations and others, including the European Marine Energy Centre, Drax, FES Energy, Flotation Energy, Muirhall Energy, Orbital Marine Power, Renewable Parts, RES, Scottish Water Horizons, SSE Renewables, Star Renewable Energy, Stirling Council and Vattenfall.