Coire Cas Micro Hydro Power Plant

Cost: £350,000

Capacity: 80kW

Payback Time: 10 years

Coire na Ciste Small Hydro Plant

Cost: £510,000

Capacity: 140kW

Payback Time 9.5 years

Placing hydro electric power plants in Coire Cas and Coire na Ciste provides a reliable income stream for the business, cheaper electricity to run snowmaking and lifts, and makes the centre more environmentally sustainable. Sympathetic location of the inlet and outlet pipes would also minimise environmental impact and reduce erosion of the snow pack in the lower Ciste gully.

The payback time calculated here is based on the full cost of each project but there are considerable funding sources available for community renewables, making these schemes considerably more financially attractive.

The original engineers reports for Cas and Ciste hydro schemes had a considerably faster payback time due to the higher feed in tariffs available at the time, sadly we cannot wind back the clock but with your support we can make this asset work for the community.

These plants are not significant in size, the pictures show an 89kW Hydro Plant in Ardgour.