The Dalavich community hydro scheme is located on the River Avich on land owned by the Forestry Commission. The run of river hydro project has been in development since 2012, led by the Dalavich Improvement Group (DIG), a charitable organisation run by volunteers in the rural communities of Inverinian, Dalavich, Lochavich, and Kilmaha. In 2015, DIG set up a Community Benefit Society, Awesome Energy (Dalriada) Limited, to build and operate the Hydro Scheme.
The project is now fully operational and DIG intends to use all the profits from electricity generation to fund local projects and meet the objectives set out in the community’s local action plan. Priorities include creating local employment and skills opportunities, encouraging more tourism and improving local infrastructure.
“It’s been a long development process for us to get to this stage, and as volunteers with no previous experience in this field we have faced and overcome many challenges along the way” said Carol Thomas from Awesome Energy. “We would like to thank SSEN for supporting the community with the grid connection for the River Avich Hydro scheme. The community is so proud to see all our hard work pay off.”
Andy Huthwaite, Director of Commercial and Connections at SSEN, added that throughout the process SSEN aimed to provide a high level of customer service and have worked closely with AED to investigate various connection options that would best suit their needs.
The scheme will have an official opening ceremony in April this year.
Image: SSEN
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