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Torrs Hydro-Electric Project in New Mills
The official website for the
Torrs Hydro-Electric Project is http://www.torrshydro.co.uk/
Tuesday 18th December 2007
Green Energy
Project Makes Ideal Christmas Gift
A High Peak company is coming
to the rescue of last minute Christmas shoppers with a novel
gift idea buying shares in a local renewable energy project.
Torrs Hydro New Mills Ltd, with
support from High Peak Friends of the Earth, is offering people
the chance to become shareholders in a renewable energy project
that will generate clean, green electricity and much needed
funds for community development projects.
The money raised through shares
in will go towards purchasing and installing a 70kW hydro
power plant at a disused weir near New Mills in the High Peak,
Derbyshire. The plant uses a modernised version of a 2,000
year old Greek invention the Archimedean screw. The screw
produces electricity as it is turned by the power of water
flowing through it. It will generate an estimated 260,000
kWh of green, renewable electricity every year - enough to
power up to 70 homes. Money raised from the sale of the hydroelectricity
will contribute to environmental and regeneration projects
around New Mills.
Shares cost £1 each, with a
minimum shareholding of 250 shares. Shareholders will receive
up to 7.5 percent in interest on their investment each year.
Anyone interested in buying shares can download a prospectus
from www.torrshydro.org.uk. The offer closes at 5pm on January
31st 2008. Over £15,000 in share applications have been received
to date for the scheme which has 126,000 shares on offer.
The hydro project, the first
community hydro scheme in the UK financed through a local
share offer, was initiated by Water Power Enterprises (h2oPE),
who will manage the project on behalf of Torrs Hydro New Mills.
The scheme is supported by High Peak Friends of the Earth.
Friends of the Earth Climate
Campaigner, Nick Rau said: Anyone struggling to find a
gift for that special someone this Christmas need look no
further. Buying shares will help ensure we tap into this fantastic
local source of clean green energy. There is huge potential
for renewable energy in the UK. If the Government did more
to support the renewable industry we could drastically reduce
our carbon emissions. That would be a great Christmas gift
for people and the planet.
Richard Body, Director, Torrs
Hydro New Mills and High Peak Friends of the Earth coordinator
said: Help drive the green energy revolution and do something
for the local community at the same time. Buying a share in
the Torrs New Mills Hydro is just the thing for the discerning
environmentally aware person this Christmas.
Steve Welsh, MD of Water Power
Enterprises (h2oPE), the developer said: Renewable energy
is about safeguarding the future of our planet. What better
way is there to help the hydro scheme at New Mills, than buying
shares as Christmas presents for family and friends. A Christmas
present for grandchildren is an ideal way of helping the scheme
and paving the way for your grandchild to have ownership of
an exciting community driven project.
Notes
For more information or to arrange
an interview contact: Friends of the Earth Press Office on
0207 566 1649
Richard Body, Director, Torrs Hydro New Mills and High Peak
Friends of the Earth Coordinator at coordinator@highpeakfoe.org.uk
Steve Welsh, MD of Water Power Enterprises steve.welsh@h2ope.co.uk
Friday 14th December 2007
The Torrs Hydro-Electric Project
now features on the main Friends of the Earth website at:
http://www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/climate/case_studies/hydro_power.html
Press Release 29th September 2007
Regions Water Mill Brought
Back To Life to Fight Climate Change
Hydro project open day: Saturday 29th Sept,
2 - 4pm at The Heritage Centre, New Mills, Derbyshire
People across the region will have the chance
to become shareholders in a ground breaking initiative aimed
at generating renewable energy from an old Derbyshire mill
site, thanks to the work of a local group. Torrs Hydro New
Mills Ltd, a company formed by local people (many of them
members of High Peak Friends of the Earth) will work, with
the developer Water Power Enterprises, to install new hydroelectric
technology in the 200 year old weir at the Torrs in New Mills,
Derbyshire [1]. The company is holding an open day at the
Heritage Centre, New Mills between 2 and 4 on Saturday 29
September so members of the public can find out more about
investing in the project.
The hydro project, only the second of its
kind to be installed in the UK, will generate enough green
electricity for 140 homes, as well as cash to fund local regeneration
schemes. It will be installed on the site of a former mill
and use a modernised version of a 2000 year old Greek invention
the Archimedean screw to generate renewable energy. The
technology is very efficient at generating electricity from
weirs, and has huge potential for installation in other old
mill sites throughout the region.
Each share will cost £1 and the minimum shareholding
will be £250. Shareholders will get a modest rate of interest
on the shares, but most of the profit from the project will
go as grants for regeneration and environmental projects in
the New Mills area.
Hydroelectric power is just one of the solutions
to climate change which exist and which could flourish if
the Government introduces a strong climate change law. The
Big Ask, Friends of the Earths climate campaign is calling
for a law that will commit the UK to cutting its carbon dioxide
emissions by at least three per cent every year. A strong
law will force the Government to introduce a range of measures
aimed at cutting emissions including promoting renewable
electricity production [1]. Richard Body of High Peak Friends
of the Earth said:
This regions got an abundance of water
power which can deliver pollution-free energy. By investing
in the regeneration of these old hydro sites we can do our
bit to tackle climate change and regenerate our communities
at the same time. However we also need to see the Government
do much more to help renewable technologies such this flourish
in the UK. They can start by introducing a strong climate
change law which commits the UK to cutting its carbon dioxide
emissions by at least 3 percent a year.
Steve Welsh of Water Power Enterprises, the
project developer [2], said:
This is an exciting way in which the community
of New Mills can benefit from the hydro scheme and help cut
carbon emissions. Local people can buy a share in the scheme
and, by doing so; know that they are investing for the benefit
of New Mills.
Information on the scheme is also available
on the High Peak Friends of the Earth website: www.highpeakfoe.org.uk/news.htm
Notes
For more information and to arrange an interview
contact: Richard Body at coordinator@highpeakfoe.org.uk or
Steve Welsh at steve.welsh@h2ope.co.uk.
[1] The project is to install a 70KWh Archimedean
Screw (generating approximately 260,000 Units of electricity
per year) by the side of the largest weir in the Torrs.
[2] For more information go to www.thebigask.com
[3] Water Power Enterprises is a social enterprise
company, committed to reducing carbon emissions through producing
renewable energy.
Press Release 18th September 2007
GROUP FORMED TO ENSURE TORRS HYDRO BENEFITS
NEW MILLS
A group of local people have formed a new
group to support the hydro scheme at the Torrs and to channel
income from the scheme for the benefit of New Mills. Calling
itself Torrs Hydro New Mills Ltd the group is looking for
members to buy shares which will then be used to own a share
in the future revenues of the hydro scheme at the Torrs.
The group is soon to be registered with the
Financial Services Authority as an Industrial and Provident
Society for the Benefit of the Community an IPS. The
group will operate on the principle of one member one vote
and the members will elect a Board of Directors at an AGM.
Once the group is registered with the Financial Services Authority,
it will issue a Prospectus, asking people to become a member.
Each share will cost £1 and the minimum shareholding will
be £250.
The money raised by the group will purchase
a share in the net revenue of the Torrs hydro scheme. The
more money that is raised through the share offer, the greater
the percentage of money will go towards the New Mills area
as grants towards the economic regeneration and environmental
sustainability of New Mills. The remainder of the money for
the hydro scheme will be raised by Water Power Enterprises.
The share of the revenue going to the new
group will go towards paying a modest rate of interest on
the shares and the remainder the bulk of the money will
go as grants to the New Mills area.
This is an exciting way in which the community
of New Mills can benefit from the hydro scheme. Water Power
Enterprise is a Social enterprise and the new Torrs Hydro
New Mills IPS is the ideal vehicle whereby local people can
buy a share in the future revenue of the scheme and, by doing
so, know that they are investing for the benefit of New Mills.
said Steve Welsh of Water Power Enterprises.
Richard Body a founder member of the new
group added A group of us have been actively seeking a financial
structure where the local area will benefit and this is it.
To find out more about the Torrs Hydro New
Mills IPS, an information afternoon is being held at the New
Mills Heritage Centre on Saturday the 29th Sept, between 2
and 4pm. Alternatively you can contact Richard Body at coordinator@highpeakfoe.org.uk
or Steve Welsh at steve.welsh@h2ope.co.uk.
Notes:
Water Power Enterprises is a social enterprise company, committed
to reducing carbon emissions through producing renewable energy.
The project is to install a 70KWh Archimedean Screw (generating
approximately 260,000 Units of electricity per year) by the
side of the largest weir in the Torrs.
Steve Welsh, Water Power Enterprises
Richard Body, prospective secretary, Torrs Hydro New Mills
Ltd
High Profile
The Torrs Hydro project looks set to feature
in an upcoming edition of the FoE national magazine, plus
it will soon have its own page on the national FoE website.
Press Release 12th September 2007
Torrs Hydro New Mills Ltd and Water
Power Enterprises (Community Interest Company Ltd)
12th Sept 2007
A successful meeting was held on
Monday 10th Sept between Water Power Enterprises (h2oPE
Community Interest Company) and the founding members of
the 'Torrs Hydro New Mills' Industrial and Provident Society.
The meeting was held to explore the possibility of setting
up a legal structure by which local people could contribute
financially to the hydro scheme and obtain direct community
benefit from the sale of the hydroelectricity. The best
legal structure for this to happen is the 'Industrial and
Provident Society for the benefit of the community' whose
model rules allow the creation of a small scale Industrial
and Provident Society (IPS) fully within the FSA guidelines
but without the need and great expense of a large scale
share issue.
Six founding members adopted the
model rules, with a few changes, and appointed four directors,
namely Richard Body (also the secretary), Maggie Cole, Till
Geiger and Esther Jones. We have a tight timetable which
seeks to register the IPS with the FSA, issue and publicise
the share prospectus, order the equipment and install the
machinery by June 2008.
The model rules are based upon 'one
member one vote' with a minimum shareholding of £250 and
a maximum of £20,000. The members will elect the Directors
at an AGM. We - ie h20PE Community Interest Company - have
an agreement with the 'Torrs Hydro New Mills' IPS to install,
manage and maintain the hydro site. We have planning permission,
a draft Abstraction License and an Agreement to Lease from
the landowner, New Mills Town Council. By purchasing shares
in the IPS, people will be purchasing a share of the net
revenues accruing from the sale of the hydroelectricity
which will be used to provide grants for the 'regeneration
of the community and the environmental sustainability of
the New Mills area.' A proportion of the net revenues accruing
to the New Mills IPS will be used to pay interest to the
shareholders, but the bulk of the funds will be used to
channel grant monies into the community. Those who invest
in the New Mills IPS - and this will be made quite explicit
in the prospectus - will be doing so from a motivation to
help and support the local community, rather than to make
a personal financial return. With a total cost of the hydro
scheme of £200,000, if the Torrs Hydro New Mills IPS raised
£50,000 for example, the society would be purchasing a one
quarter share in the net revenues from the sale of the hydroelectricity.
The rest of the money will be raised by h20PE Community
Interest Company through a mixture of soft loans, grants
and private equity. However, the grant monies raised by
h20PE Community Interest Company will, after a period of
10 years (ie once debt finance has been repaid), be gifted
to the Torrs Hydro New Mills IPS, thereby increasing their
share of the net revenues and increasing the amount of grant
money that can be distributed within the New Mills area.
H20PE Community Interest Company will then maintain a minority
shareholding to help pay for the maintenance of the site
and a proportion of its core overheads.
This model - whereby a Social Enterprise
acts as a 'social' developer and enters into partnership
with the a local IPS - makes a direct link between local
community action on climate change (thereby reducing carbon
emissions) and local community regeneration (through the
purchase of a share in the net revenue of the hydro site).
It is a direct example of local action on climate change
and direct community benefit. Our hope is that this model
can be used elsewhere to help widen the issue of climate
change beyond its perception of being a 'middle class' issue.
The timetable for installing the
hydro scheme is...
1. Information Afternoon 29th Sept,
2-4 pm at New Mills Heritage Centre regarding the Torrs
Hydro New Mills IPS
2. Registration of Torrs Hydro New
Mills IPS - end of Sept 07
3. Legal approval of Prospectus -
end of Sept 07 (the prospectus cannot be issued with registration
from the FSA)
4. Publicity of the Prospectus -
October through to January 08
5. Order the hydro equipment - 1st
February (awaiting confirmation of this date)
6. On site for civils work - March
08
7. Commissioning of equipment and
'going live' - 30th June
For further information, please don't
hesitate to contact us.
Steve Welsh (h2oPE Community Interest
Company)
Steve.welsh@h2ope.co.uk
Richard Body
Torrs Hydro New Mills
coordinator@highpeakfoe.org.uk
Planning Permission Granted - 5th July
2007
Click
here to read the full High Peak Borough Council
planning permission approval and conditions document. (This
pdf document will open in a new window and requires Adobe
Reader)
Planning Applied for - 26th March 2007
The planning application for the hydro-electric
scheme in the Torrs in New Mills is in. An abstraction licence
has been requested from the Environment Agency. The time
has come for the local people to show their support for
the scheme.
High Peak Friends of the Earth are hosting
a public meeting at New Mills Town Hall at 7pm on Monday
2nd April to bring the developers, Water Power Enterprises,
and local people together.
Richard Body, coordinator of the High Peak
Friends of the Earth group said "This scheme is a great
example of local renewable energy generation and we want
to ensure that the people of New Mills have the opportunity
to be a part of it."
The meeting will consist of an update of
the schemes progress and the formation of a steering group
to represent the interests of the New Mills residents, including
helping to seek grant funding.
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