The Viking Energy Partnership is 50% owned by Scottish and Southern Energy, and 50% owned by Viking Energy Limited. Viking Energy Limited is 90% owned by the Shetland Charitable Trust and 10% by the four islanders who own the existing Burradale wind turbines in Tingwall.

The scheme is for 150 turbines generating a maximum of 540 Megawatts of electricity.

The full height of each turbine will be up to 145 metres (476 ft), about double the height of the Burradale turbines, and each one will have a generating capacity of 3.6 megawatts.

The latest estimated development cost is £800 million and the planned lifespan of the windfarm is 25 years.

The windfarm has to be sufficiently big to pay for the cost of laying and using a cable to the UK mainland and make a reasonable financial return on such a huge investment.

The windfarm has already been reduced from 192 to 150 turbines to meet local objections, but there is a limit to how much more it can be reduced and still be financially viable.

Use the Links on the left to find out more facts about the windfarm.