MEMBER NEWS: Statkraft commits to keeping Keith’s Christmas lights on

December 2, 2021
MEMBER NEWS: Statkraft commits to keeping Keith’s Christmas lights on

Europe’s largest renewable energy producer, and the company behind the Keith Greener Grid Park has helped spread Christmas cheer throughout the north-east town by joining other local businesses and sponsoring Keith’s festive decorations.

Following another year hit by the coronavirus pandemic, not forgetting Storm Arwen, the Keith Community Council has once again worked tirelessly to light up the Moray town as part of its Christmas celebrations.

Wishing to support this, Statkraft has contributed £800 to support the powering of the Christmas lights throughout the festive period.

Statkraft’s world-leading Greener Grid Park located near the transmission substation in Keith, is set to help prevent blackouts across the UK by mimicking the role played by a power station, but without the use of harmful fossil fuels.

Donal Murphy, Statkraft, said: “The entire Statkraft team believes that giving back to the local community is of the upmost importance, so we’re proud to be involved with an event that means so much to so many people.

“We’ve already brought significant investment into the town, but with our ambition as part of the Keith Greener Grid Park to ‘keep the lights on’ in homes across the UK, we felt the theme and timing was perfect to support the town’s Christmas celebrations.”

The community’s popular light switch-on took place on Saturday 27th November. The community decorations are supported by local businesses and team of local volunteers, who invest time and money into the on-going repair and maintenance of the lights.

Callum Stuart, Keith Community Council, said: “With all that is happening in the world, it is more important than ever that those who have suffered loneliness, isolation, or have had their mental health impacted due to the pandemic, have some festive cheer.

“The lights might seem such a small thing, but they are the beginning of a happy time of year full of joy, wonder and magic and we’re very grateful to the support from Statkraft in ensuring our Christmas was just as sparkly as ever!”

In addition to the powering of Keith’s Christmas lights, Statkraft is also sponsoring tree planting at Keith Country Showground. Acting as effective and natural carbon off-setters, 350 trees will be planted by the show committee. It is also hoped that the new woodland will attract and reintroduce various species of animals – as well as act as an effective wind barrier during the popular Keith Show.

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AREG has played an important role in the growth of Scotland’s renewable energy sector, engaging the supply chain and developing the European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre. However, we are only at the very beginning of the transition that AREG was established to both lead and support so there are still opportunities for companies to get into the constantly evolving renewables supply chain. We look forward to continuing our work together as renewables builds on its place as Scotland’s main source of power, and as we seek to deliver real change in the crucial areas of heat and transport.

Scottish Renewables

Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce has worked closely with AREG since its formation. The recent progress in the developments of offshore wind projects by Equinor and Vattenfall are as a result of the work of the group over many years. The north-east is known as the oil and gas capital of Europe. At the Chamber, we believe the region must evolve its position to being recognised as the energy capital. Whilst hydrocarbons will continue to be essential in driving our economy for years to come, the generation of renewable resources will play an increasingly important role in providing cost-effective power, innovative development and economic growth.

Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce

The enthusiasm and dedication of the early group that would become AREG was fundamental in us choosing to launch All-Energy in Aberdeen. The first tiny show was held in 2001, and AREG’s Chairman at the time, Jeremy Cresswell, played such an active role that I often describe him in terms such as All-Energy’s ‘midwife’. All-Energy is now the UK’s largest renewable and low carbon energy exhibition and conference in terms of number of attendees, space booked, and number of exhibiting companies. As AREG became firmly established, their presence and support for the event grew spectacularly over the years. We thank them most sincerely for their invaluable input.

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Vattenfall

Aberdeen City and Shire is emerging as a key location for renewables by successfully transferring its world-class oil and gas expertise into the sector and AREG has done much to advance this through a broad range of initiatives. It has acted as a catalyst in driving further investment in the local economy by engaging with companies, Government, public bodies and existing projects and we have been pleased to support their efforts. Scottish Enterprise will continue to engage with AREG as we increase Scotland’s use of renewable energy.

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