Venture capital investor Albion Ventures has invested GBP3.1m in partnership with Perth-based developer Green Highland Renewables (GHR) to fund the development of a single 1MW hydropower scheme on the Allt Gharagain, near Achansheen in the Scottish Highlands.
The scheme will benefit from the feed-in-tariff regime and it is expected to generate its first electricity in Q4 2014.
The installation is forecast to generate an average 3.1GWh of electricity per year, enough to power up to 850 households.
This investment is Albion’s tenth investment into renewable energy and the third investment into a hydroelectric scheme.
Christoph Ruedig, investment director at Albion Ventures, says: “We are excited about partnering with Green Highland Renewables as we continue to invest in small-scale hydropower. GHR is one of the leading developers of small-scale hydroelectricity schemes in Scotland, having successfully developed many schemes over the last five years. Allt Gharaghain is the second investment in partnership with GHR after our GBP9.3m investment in Chonais Hydro in October 2013. We look forward to working with GHR on both schemes, as well as future schemes.
“This marks our third investment in hydropower and highlights Albion’s continued commitment to the renewables sector. Hydropower is the oldest renewable technology and has a strong track record of performance, which will provide attractive long-term returns for our shareholders.”
Ian Cartwright, managing director at Green Highland Renewables, says: “After the successful start of our partnership with Albion on Chonais Hydro, we are very pleased to be partnering with the team again on Allt Gharaghain. The investment in this project further underlines our goal of becoming one of the leading owners and operators of small scale hydroelectric schemes in the UK. We look forward to developing Allt Gharaghain, Chonais, as well as future hydro projects, in partnership with Albion.”
