Community Action for Energy Community based energy projects: Case study 26

Knoydart Hydro Ltd A community owned renewable energy generation scheme

Knoydart Hydro Ltd is a community-owned Who’s involved? hydro-electric scheme that supplies electricity Knoydart Hydro is run by a board of local community to the village of on the remote representatives. It employs one part time maintenance person Knoydart Peninsular on the west coast of who is supported by members of the community on a voluntary basis. Development work is contracted to Knoydart . Although on the mainland, Inverie is Foundation staff. Local contractors take on specialist work such accessible only by ferry from the port of as installing new cabling or high-voltage apparatus. or by foot, and is not connected to the A representative of the Highlands and Islands Community national grid. Knoydart Hydro Ltd is a trading Energy Company attends board meetings when possible and is available for advice at the end of the phone. subsidiary of the Knoydart Foundation, a body established in 1997 to take ownership of the How is Knoydart Hydro funded? Knoydart Estate and whose aim is to preserve, Following the community buyout of 1999, a feasibility study enhance and develop the area for the well was undertaken with the help of the Council and a being of the environment and the people. grant applied for. The refurbishment cost over £500,000 and was supported by funding from Highlands and Islands When did the project start? Enterprise, the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the Knoydart Foundation and the process was assisted by In 1999, the Knoydart Foundation led a community buyout of . the remnants of the old Knoydart Estate, giving the community control of 16,000 acres, several residential properties, a What are the targets and aims? bunkhouse, old farm buildings, and a hydro electric plant that had been installed twenty years earlier. All had suffered from The main aim of the project is to provide a cost effective, clean years of neglect and were in poor condition. and efficient electricity supply to the local community of Inverie. The project is looking at expanding its activities into The refurbishment of the hydro plant was seen as a key factor areas such as energy efficiency, other renewable energy sources in the social, economic and environmental regeneration of the and wider education projects, and is to change its name to area. Beginning in 2001, repairs and modernisations were Knoydart Renewables to reflect this broader range of interests. made to the dam, pipeline and turbine and part of the distribution system. Parts of the system still require upgrading and the project is very much ongoing. How was it implemented? Knoydart Hydro did not originate the scheme, but took over a hydro electric project begun by a previous owner of the When people hear that the community Knoydart Estate in the late 1970s. Given the challenges of “runs its own hydro-electric scheme, they often location and access, the building of the dam and associated ask if everyone gets free electricity... If only! engineering represents a huge undertaking. Everyone who connects to the system pays The 1980s and 90s saw a succession of owners which led to a unit rate of 8p problems with maintenance and disputes with local people about access to supply. By the time Knoydart Hydro took over, Angela Williams, Development” Manager Knoydart Foundation the system was in a serious state of disrepair. By early 2001 the electricity supply was too erratic and was stopped, with the village moving to a backup generator.

The refurbishment was co-ordinated by the Highland Council and was implemented by a number of contractors. Various parts of the system were not improved at this point and are part of a programme of on-going improvement that is the responsibility of Knoydart Hydro. LESSONS LEARNT Publicity is not a major issue in the close-knit community of the peninsular. Locals were kept in touch through a newsletter, and 1 Communication is vital. It is important to keep there is information on www.knoydart-foundation.com. everybody informed, particularly if there is a Members of the board of Knoydart Hydro have spoken at problem. several conferences. 2 Like all engineering projects, the development of a good maintenance regime is necessary to Achievements minimise technical problems in the future. • Getting the hydro machinary back up and running 3 Keep good paperwork. • Keeping the hydro machinary running • Developing an active board to take forward the future development of the project. In the course of 2006, Knoydart Hydro has installed additional equipment to monitor water levels in the dam at Key success factors Bhraomisaig and also the amount of rainfall. This will show whether the hydro scheme can provide power in times of low • Support from the community water - crucial information for some of the long term • Access to reliable and supportive contractors development plans. • Access to the Highlands and Islands Community Notwithstanding the day-to-day challenge of keeping the Energy Company. energy flowing (vitally important given that the local community relies on the company for electricity), Knoydart Next steps Hydro is keen to see if it can expand into other areas of community energy. Of particular interest is the establishment of Managing an electricity company is not just about keeping the a hydrogen-based project to harness the electricity from the supply going today - it is also about managing it in the future. hydro supply for the benefit of residents on the other side of Over the past two years Knoydart Hydro has seen a 30% the peninsular who are not connected to it. This would involve increase in the number of buildings (domestic and non- researching the opportunities for hydrogen fuelled cars and domestic) wanting to be supplied by the company. Whilst this boats (marine transport is vital in Knoydart). is good news for the community - and for the company - the board needs to make sure that the system can cope with To this end, the group recently took advantage of a CAfE travel demand and will continue to provide a supply into the future. bursary to visit the PURE Hydrogen project on , , the only operational community owned hydrogen system in the In order to do so, a meter has been installed to collect data on world (see www.pure.shetland.co.uk). the amount of electricty used by customers on a half-hourly basis. This information is downloaded every month and the information converted into graphs that show patterns of energy use and make comparisons between the usage in different months. For further information about this project contact: Managing a company also involves wider responsibilities, with Angela Williams the board currently implementing the findings of a recent Development Manager, Knoydart Foundation Health and Safety audit. Inverie by Mallaig -shire PH41 4PL

tel 01687 462242 fax 01687 462272 email [email protected] web www.knoydart-foundation.com

Knoydart Hydro is a member of the Community Action for Energy network. Community Action for Energy (CAfE) is an initiative of the Energy Saving Trust that promotes and facilitates local community based energy projects. This case study is one of a series showcasing the most exciting and innovative of the 2500 projects that are part of the CAfE network.

Community Action for Energy, Pictures: (above) Knoydart is on the The CREATE Centre, mainland but only accessible by ferry Smeaton Road, Bristol BS1 6XN or foot; (top) the dam on the lake; (below), a meeting of the Knoydart tel 08701 261 444 community; (over) the village of fax 0117 929 9114 Invarie in winter. email [email protected] web www.est.org.uk/cafe