Weekly update, 6th March 2017

Energy & business services:
• Atlantis Resources Ltd has this week announced that Phase 1A of the MeyGen project has been awarded full accreditation by Ofgem. Phase 1A is now an accredited 6MW tidal stream generating station and will receive 5 ROCS/MWh. Ofgem has determined that the accreditation is effective from 8 November 2016, so all power produced since the first turbine came on stream will receive this level of ROCS.
• This week has seen work commencing on the construction of the Operations & Maintenance base for the Beatrice Offshore Windfarm (BOWL), with some road restrictions now in place around Wick harbourfront to allow work to begin.

Tourism, Food & Drink:
• Delighted to see this week’s announcement from Dunnet Bay Distillery of expansion plans for its premises at Dunnet. Martin and Claire Murray have made remarkable progress since establishing the business in 2014 and launching the award-winning Rock Rose Gin and Holy Grass Vodka. The business now employs 12 people, and the expansion, which has been supported by CNSRP partner Highlands and Islands Enterprise, will allow increased production capacity at the distillery and will create visitor facilities to capitalise on the brands’ successes as well as the increasing visitor numbers being see as the North Coast 500 attracts global attention to the area. http://news.hie.co.uk/all-news/major-expansion-at-caithness-distillery/

Communications:
As part of an ongoing process of helping communicate progress with the delivery of aspects of our economic transition programme CNSRP’s partners work together to generate news stories for local, regional and national media. I also speak on a regular basis to individuals and organisations across the area to update on progress. This week:
• The team behind the Beatrice Offshore Windfarm project have produced a brand new website for the project, bringing together useful project background with up to date information of employment opportunities and supply chain work. The site is now live at https://www.beatricewind.com/
• Next Thursday will see a public presentation by Linda Ross, a PhD candidate at the UHI Centre for History, who is carrying out research on the history of Dounreay. Her talk, entitled “Housing the Atomics” will be in Caithness Horizons on Thursday 16th March at 7.30pm. To book a place contact the venue at info@caithnesshorizons.co.uk or 01847 896508. http://www.caithnesshorizons.co.uk/