News / Co-op backs hydro at Settle
Co-op backs hydro at Settle
Friday 16th October 2009
The Co-operative Group is backing a pioneering community hydro-generation scheme in Settle, North Yorkshire.
The Manchester group is giving £96,000 to Water Power Enterprises (h2oPE) and has agreed to buy the electricity it will produce to power its local shop.
h2oPE will open Settle Hydro, Yorkshire's first co-operatively and community owned hydro electricity plant later this year.
The money, which follows a previous donation of £48,000, will enablee h2oPE to support a total of 13 such schemes over a three-year period.
The 50kW hydro power plant at Bridge End Weir in Settle will use a modernised version of a 2,000-year-old Greek invention - the Archimedean screw - to generate electricity.
The Co-operative has a track record of supporting innovative small-scale renewables, and has Solar-PV and biomass all running on its premises.
The group supported a similar scheme at New Mills in Derbyshire.
Nigel Holden, head of energy and environment at the Co-operative Group, said: “Taking the electricity to power our Settle store is a further demonstration of our work to support small-scale renewable energy developers and in turn help combat climate change."
Steve Welsh, managing director of h2oPE, said: “With the support of The Co-operative we have not only been able to launch our second scheme but we have been able to organise workshops so that other communities can find out how they can set up similar initiatives.
“It is our ambition to see hundreds of similar sites around the north of England, and thanks to the money from The Co-operative we are making great strides towards making this potential reality.”
