Hugh Wallace of local business Glendevon Energy developed the Rumbling Bridge Hydro Scheme with initial funding assistance from the Scottish Governments  CARES loan scheme. This  supports rural businesses and community groups to create distributed renewable energy generation assets.

 

Numerous technical, environmental  and commercial difficulties had to be overcome in order to see the project come to fruition. These included pulling 15 landowners together and designing an economically viable scheme not to mention raising the money and managing the construction and on going operational  contracts.

 

The result has, however,  been a great success. The Rumbling Bridge Community Hydro Society is one of the largest community owned hydro projects in the UK. with electricity generated during all but the very driest spells. This feeds directly into local homes and businesses first using the local electricity distribution network. Annual generation will be equivalent to that consumed by around 600 houses.

 

The commercial structure allowed local people to invest in the project but will also provide long term benefits to the local community, including via  a £5,000 annual payment to the Community Council for spending at its discretion. There is also a long term profit share for the local community to spend  which is initially directed towards  increasing energy efficiency and deployment of renewables.