Electrifying Eigg

This story relates to the Isle of Eigg in the Inner Hebrides, some 90 miles south of Stornoway and about 15 miles south of Skye - it lies 10 miles east of the Scottish mainland. The people there, numbering 85, bought their island from a maverick landlord in 1997, after he was found to be out of pocket to the tune of about £3m. Having suffered decades of neglect, they set about improving their places. Off went the 1950s car wrecks, prettily adorning the roadsides. Out went the leaking roofs and collapsing windowframes that so endeared Eigg to one its previous landlords, Keith Schellenberg. He still owns one property, and it, appropriately, is falling down.

Electricity was, until recently, supplied by diesel generators. These could only supply 12 kW of power, which means that you can't run the washing machine and the iron at the same time. They also drink diesel like a Scot drinks whisky at Hogmanay. So, the islanders put their thinking caps on, pulled in all the subsidies they were legally entitled to and set about building their own electricity grid. Starting with a hydro-electric scheme in the hamlet of Kildonnan (3 homes), it was extended by using solar panels, windturbines and more small hydro schemes.

I am awaiting confirmation, but the big switch-on should have happened about a week ago. Another achievement for the islanders. Listen to this report from 2002 about island life.

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