New Generation

Very interesting meeting with Balerno Village Trust on Tuesday to discuss their, now very advanced, plans for a small, community owned Hydro electricity generating scheme next to Harlaw reservoir. The idea is that through a combination of commercial loans and community share investment through a co-operative structure, the plant will be built then the electricity generated by the natural flow of water will be fed into the national grid and the revenue generated from that used to pay off the loans and costs and any surplus is allocated to local community projects in and around Balerno. Clean green energy production, a community co-operative and community benefit. What's not to like ? More info on the BVT website. Still a couple of technical issues to be resolved such as planning permission and negotiating a lease for the land but these are in hand. Should be a scoosh....