12-06-2014

Welcoming Highland hydro

A long awaited community owned hydro plant in Kingussie has finally become a reality. After nine long years the Kingussie Community Development Company (KCDC) are celebrating the installation of a new community hydro plant on the river Gynack. The hydro plant construction began today and is due to be completed in 8 weeks’ time.

KCDC chair Donald Grant said: “Having local residents with valuable skills, such as a semi-retired chartered engineer and treasurer, has been a real boon.  We hope that our experiences will help other community groups take forward their energy projects.”

Anne Schiffer, community energy campaigner at Friend of the Earth Scotland said: “It’s fantastic news to see the project is finally up and running. But despite great potential, the community hydro sector in Scotland is hugely underdeveloped with one of the main barriers being able to afford connection to the National Grid. We’re working with partners to make it as easy as possible for communities like Kingussie to get connected and realise the benefits of renewable, local energy.”

Players of People’s Postcode Lottery have raised over £60,000 to help the Kingussie Community Development Company realise their dream. Players of People’s Postcode lottery are also supporting Friends of the Earth Scotland’s ‘Power to the People’ project which is working to enable communities right across Scotland to tap into the benefits of community energy.

Contact the Friends of the Earth Scotland media office: +44 (0) 131 243 2719 / +44 (0) 131 243 2715