Course: Renewable Energy Development

The 12-month full time MSc course is available at our Orkney Campus. It is based on the successful completion of seven core modules, three elective modules and a dissertation. While the core and elective modules provide a broad sweep of knowledge the individual research dissertation gives time for in-depth specialization in a particular area of interest.

The modular structure is summarised below:-
Course Modules

Each student must successfully complete the following core modules:-

1. Energy in the 21st century – Sets the context for the rest of the course. Patterns of energy use and demand, energy resources. Politics of energy, policy initiatives and global warming.

2. Economics of Renewable Energy – The pricing mechanism and energy. Economics of extracting energy. Economic instruments for the environment: pollution taxes, tradable pollution permits, and environmental valuation. Economic incentives or renewables ROCs. The cost-efficiency of renewable technologies.

3. Renewable Technology I: Generation – Energy converters: wind; wave; tidal; solar; biomass. Energy and transport. The measurement of energy resources. (Recommended Elective Module)

4. Environmental Processes – Environmental and ecosystem processes. Energy in the environment: its origins and estimation. Environmental disturbance associated with energy use.

5. Environmental Policy and Risk – Principles of international law. Property rights and energy resources. Environmental impact assessment, risk assessment methods and techniques. Environmental risk assessment contexts and constraints.

6. Renewable Technology II: Integration – Technical aspects of generation and integrating renewable energy into distribution networks. Including generation; integration (electricity, heat or fuel networks), distribution and energy use; storage of renewable energy. (Recommended Elective Module)

7. Development Appraisal – Development constraints and opportunities: EIA; landscape assessment, Strategic environmental assessment, capacity studies and the planning system. Valuation of capital assets (discounting, years purchase valuation) and developer’s budget.

8. Development project – Team project completing the pre-development planning for a hypothetical development. Including resource assessment, site selection, development layout, consents licensing, planning, economic appraisal, development plan; economic social and environmental impact assessment.

9. As well as these there is an optional design project module and a dissertation selected with agreement of supervisor.

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