Sunart Community Renewables is a Community Benefit Society Registration Number: 7001

The Hydro-electric Scheme - some specifics

The micro (100kWh) hydro-electric scheme is located at Allt nan Cailleach, Anaheilt, Strontian.    

The site for the scheme includes a disused Scottish Water raw water intake dam - now owned by Sunart Community Company - which sits below the confluence of two tributary burns (grid reference NM80956365). Penstock takes the abstracted water under Anaheilt Common Grazings and a private croft. The dam is serviced by rough tracks across the grazings and downstream on the private croft a metalled road leads to the site of the original croft house and runs parallel with the burn.      

The Sunart Hydro-electric scheme generates revenue by selling hydro-electricity to the national grid through an energy supplier and by receiving Feed-in-Tarrif payments. It will generate approximately 423,200kWh per annum.

The scheme is now fully operational, a month ahead of its November 2015 deadline, and it is estimated that it will generate a gross income of £106,900 in its first full year of activity (2016). As income will be index linked, revenue is forecast to grow annually. Operating and service costs will be minimal. The surplus generated from the scheme will be passed to a Community Benefit Fund to allocate to other local projects and initiatives within the Sunart area. The priorities for these have been determined by a recent Community Development Plan and ballot.

In the early years of course we’ll have to focus on repaying money borrowed to set up the scheme, but we hope to be able to start building the Community Benefit Fund right from the first year.

Allt nan Cailleach near the site of the turbine house