It could create hundreds of jobs and generate between £23m to £30m a year for the community and help maintain the high level of social provision in the Shetland Islands, long after the oil money runs out. It is also claimed to be capable of meeting 20% of Scotland's energy needs.

But many islanders believe the giant wind farm proposed for the Shetland mainland with 150 turbines higher than Orkney's Old Man of Hoy spread over 10,000 acres, will blight their landscape and only serve to attract other developers wanting to erect similar eyesores.

This week representatives of Viking Energy Ltd, the company born of a partnership between Shetland Islands Council and Scottish and Southern Energy, will be going round the local communities in Shetland one last time before a planning application for the £600m wind farm is lodged with Scottish ministers early next month.

They insist they have already listened to islanders' concerns and have reduced the impact: the number of turbines from 192 down to 150; the footprint reduced by 33%; and access tracks by 28%.

According to Viking, the project is being developed on behalf of the people of Shetland to ensure that a substantial proportion of the money earned stays there for the benefit of the local people.

Indeed, the £18m a year that is predicted to go into the hitherto oil-funded Shetland Charitable Trust, would be more than ever received from the oil companies in one year.

With half an eye on the bitter dispute which engulfed the unsuccessful plan to build a 181 turbine farm on Lewis, they have also consulted the RSPB at every step.

David Thomson, Viking Energy's project officer sees it as the only obvious way to maintain the quality of Shetland life. But he concedes the project is large.

"However, it is a chicken and egg. You can't have a wind farm without an interconnector to transmit the power to the mainland. And you can't have an interconnector without a wind farm, and one with a critical mass of development in order to be able to afford an inter-connector. That critical mass we believe is of the order of 150 turbines.

"That's been one of the main drivers of the scale the project. But another driver is the potential of Shetland's wind resource which is massive. Only to do a little bit is not to play your part in fighting climate change. This project could provide 20% of Scotland's electricity demand and about 12% of Scotland's entire renewable energy target. It could offset one million tonnes of CO2 every year."

A design for an interconnector is just being completed for the National Grid which would take a cable straight from Shetland to Port Gordon on the Moray coast. Consent will soon be sought from Scottish ministers.

But Mr Thomson admits other things have to be achieved to ensure the project's success. A new formula was needed for transmission charging; viable power purchase agreements; and secure supplies of labour and equipment.

The final hurdle would be finance. The community could invest some of its oil money, but the bulk would be through borrowing. "It's a question of whether we can achieve acceptable finance."

Mr Thomson was confident the majority of islanders support the project. Viking point to an opinion poll commissioned in December 2006 which showed about 75% in favour and a later consultation which showed 50% supporting the project and 42% opposed to it.

Billy Fox contradicts this. A photographer with his own business in Quarff, five miles south west of Lerwick, he is chairman of the Sustainable Shetland Group which was founded last year and now has 500 members.

"We have a petition circulating that already has 2500 signatures against the scheme," he said. "But it is difficult to get the true picture because 3000 people work for the public sector in Shetland, mostly for the council and a great number of businesses depend on the council.

"So there is a huge number who just won't put their name to anything. But the reality is that the people in Shetland are not just worried about this, they are quite scared of it."