Lord Newborough, Michael Paice Chair of the board of directors at Corwen Electricity Cooperative, Silas Jones Energy Development Officer at Cadwyn Clwyd
Lord Newborough has undertaken the first sod-cutting of the exciting Corwen Electricity Project. This community owned project has raised £300,000 to build a hydro power station in the town of Corwen.
Water from the Nant y Pigyn stream 500 feet above the town and flowing at 45 litres a second will power a 55 kilowatt generator housed in a purpose-built building on the edge of the town and connected to the National Grid. Over the coming months over 750 meters of pipework will be laid from Corwen reservoir down to the town.
Silas Jones, Renewable Energy Officer at Cadwyn Clwyd said “The scheme will generate approximately 135,000 units of electricity a year or enough to power roughly 30 households. The directors of the cooperative are now working on plans to enable local people to benefit from the electricity that will be produced in Corwen”.
“It is estimated that the scheme will generate over £30,000 worth of electricity every year” said Silas.
“Back in 2010 Cadwyn Clwyd identified the site had potential and approached Rhug Estate about a community scheme as much of the project is on Rhug Estate land. Lord Newborough generously gave the community the opportunity to develop a community owned scheme on the land” said Silas.
“The project received £12,000 funding through the Rural Development Plan for Wales 2007-2013 which is funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and the Welsh Government. This funded a feasibility study and to carry out much of the early project development. Denbighshire County Council and Corwen Town Council also provided the match-funding” Silas added.
“I worked alongside volunteers from the community and Sharenergy to set up the Corwen Electricity Cooperative. The Community Cooperative raised a staggering £300,000 by selling shares in the scheme. Corwen Electricity Cooperative secured further EU cash of £28,000 from Ynni’r Fro to pay for the legal fees associated with securing leases from the four landowners on the site” said Silas.
Michael Paice, chair of the Corwen Electricity Cooperative which is developing the scheme said “……we are so excited to be in a position to start this project, it has been a long time in development and a lot of work has gone on in the background over the last 6 to 12 months. It will be great to see the construction work start.”
It is expected that scheme will be fully operational by early 2017.
Lord Newborough said, “Today’s sod cutting event marks the start of a new and exciting green energy project for the Corwen community, there are a number of parties involved in some way or other and these include the NRW, the local community, Denbighshire County Council and a number of Private Investors. Rhug have helped facilitate this project which I am proud to be part of it fits in with our thinking and beliefs at Rhug for providing sustainability in everything we do to ensure a better and healthier world for future generations.”
