Salmon farmer recognised for green VIBES

Craig Anderson, outgoing CEO of the  Scottish Salmon Company (photo: Angus Blackburn)

A LEADING Scottish salmon farmer has been shortlisted for an environmental award along with its partners in a local green energy initiative.

The Scottish Salmon Company (SSC) teamed up with energy suppliers in the Outer Hebrides Local Energy Hub (OHLEH) project, which focuses on recycling fish waste.

In the scheme, waste from the SSC’s processing plant on the Isle of Lewis is integrated with other local household and garden waste in an anaerobic digester and broken down to produce biogas.

The biogas fuels a combined heat and power plant, with some of the electricity generated used to drive an electrolyser.

This, in turn, produces hydrogen and oxygen for use at the salmon farmer’s hatchery in Lewis, as well as providing fuel for fellow partner CnES’s (Comhairle nan Eilean Siar) hydrogen powered bin lorry.

The OHLEH project, created to encourage collaborative solutions to waste management and energy challenges, is the first of its kind in Scotland.

Funded by the Scottish government and Local Energy Challenge Fund, the programme has now been named as a finalist in the VIBES Partnership Scotland Award.

The VIBES Scottish Environment Business Awards, in their 20th year, recognise Scottish businesses which showcase best practice and take significant steps to improve or reduce their impact on the environment.

The awards encourage the efficient use of resources, strive to improve environmental performance and support sustainable development, including social benefits through involvement with the local community.

Craig Anderson, chief executive of the Scottish Salmon Company, said: ‘To be shortlisted for the Partnership Scotland Award not only recognises the commitment and expertise of the OHLEH project partners, but also is a great example of local collaboration which could act as a blueprint for national best practice, not just in the salmon farming industry but across many other sectors.’

David Macleod, head of Municipal Services at Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, said: ‘As an island local authority, it is important that we work with local partners to strengthen our local economy and our community.

‘The OHLEH project maximises the potential of being able to process organic wastes locally, generating green hydrogen and green oxygen to support local industry.’

Also in the partnership are Pure Energy Centre and Community Energy Scotland.

The winners will be announced at a ceremony on November 14 at the Doubletree by Hilton hotel in Glasgow.

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