Lone Island

The Isle of Eigg is a beautiful small island locate off the coast of Scotland. Through a mix of ingenuity and strong-willed residents, it has become the first entirely self-sufficient island, relying on a £1.6m system that draws power from a mix of local wind, solar and hydroelectric energy sources.

The system was built to supply more than 95% of their annual energy needs and has an emergency backup source of battery storage an two diesel generators. Engineers finished the project on February 1st, and it links a total of 45 households, 6 community buildings and 20 businesses over a 6-mile high voltage network. Even though the system only supports around 80 people, it still sends out an important message to the world.