The British Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem) has rejected the 60 MW Shetland subsea power transmission link project, which was proposed by National Grid Shetland and Aggreko for £800m (€893m). The 161-mile (260-km) long project would have linked the Scottish mainland (United Kingdom) and the Shetland Islands. The main driver behind the project is the forecast closure of the existing diesel-fired Lerwick power plant in the Shetlands Islands in 2020 because of the European emissions standards, which would have left the Shetlands without constant power supplies.
Ofgem has rejected the project because of two major developments, one of them being a change to a European Union (EU) emissions directive in July 2017. Under this directive, tougher emissions targets that were to originally apply to Lerwick Power Station as of 2020 have now been pushed further to 2030. Besides, the British government has announced that remote places such as the Shetlands can compete for the 2019 Contract for Difference (CfD), which might see the establishment of offshore wind parks in the region.