Knoydart Hydro Open Day

A quick update from Gwen Barrell at Knoydart about a recent open day as part of the Scottish Renewables Festival.


On Wednesday June 15th Knoydart Renewables Ltd (a wholly owned subsidiary company of Knoydart Foundation) held an open day at its turbine house as part of the Scottish Renewables Festival.

Tommy McManmon, Knoydart Ranger writes, “We had five people and a couple of dogs who really enjoyed the day. Angela Williams, our Development Manager, gave an introductory talk in the village hall, where people had the chance to browse the display boards. We travelled up to the turbine by Landrover. One visitor had worked in construction of hydro schemes in the past, so was happy to look around the turbine shed and tell us what things were! The turbine wasn’t running because it was under maintenance, but this was actually ideal as it meant we could have conversations with each other. People were interested in how many properties were supplied by the system, and how often shut-downs occurred. All were very impressed by a community running such a large electricity scheme.”

The visit coincided with some works on the dam, and in a scheduled shut-down of the turbine which worked out beautifully for the visit. The Turbine House is not open to the public though we have been holding an annual “Tea at the Turbine House” guided walk for the past couple of years in order to educate local people and visitors about the scheme. Since its refurbishment in 2002 the hydro has provided over 4,750,000 kWh of (next to) zero carbon electricity. (We obviously use a bit of oil for lubrication, diesel for the back up generator, and to get to and from the turbine which is situated “up the glen” towards Gleann Meadall.

In addition to the community owned hydro there are two micro hydros in Knoydart for those outwith our system, and interest in developing some more micro systems. A recent study of Airor burn under the auspices of the Powerdown project showed that there is potential there to assist the community at Airor to cut its carbon footprint and use diesel generators substantially less.

More information http://www.knoydart-foundation.com/