We have now generated over 300,000 kWh!

After a somewhat tortuous and time consuming process everyone who was expecting and EIS3 form should by now have received them.  EIS (Enterprise Investment Scheme) is  wonderful government scheme that encourages people to invest in an enterprise by offering them 30% of their investment back in the form of a tax rebate.  George’s decision to make community energy projects ineligible is very disappointing.

Yes, its hard to believe but there has been a distinct shortage of rain in recent weeks; both reservoirs are very low.  We are in effect back to the conditions of last autumn when there wasn’t enough water to generate 24 hours a day.

Contrary to popular belief there has not been much rain in the last few weeks which is why the water level in reservoir has been dropping slowly.  Reservoir’s prime purpose is to store surplus water as part of the Edinburgh Flood Management scheme but the reservoir is also used by the fishermen as well as the hydro scheme.  Fortunately there is little conflict of interest but balancing the requirements with supply needs some attention.  The aim is to have the reservoir approximately 1.2 meters below the overflow mark.

Another milestone passed – Harlaw Hydro has completed the trading requirement needed for it to take the next step in the EIS process, submitting an EIS1 form to HMRC.  The form has been completed and submitted.  If all goes well HMRC will supply a number of EIS3 forms for distribution to the relevant members.  When this might happen is however not certain.

We wish all viewers a very happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

The data problems have been corrected and The Power Meter is back in business, along with one or two other improvements.

Motion Number: S4M-15072
Lodged By: Gordon MacDonald
Date Lodged: 04/12/2015

Title: Harlaw Hydro Ltd, Green Energy Award Finalist

Motion Text:

That the Parliament congratulates Harlaw Hydro Ltd on being nominated as a finalist in the Best Community Project category for the Scottish Green Energy Awards 2015, which took place at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre; understands that Harlaw Hydro is a social investment project that built and now operates a hydroelectric dam to generate green electricity to benefit social community investors; welcomes the additional generating capacity that contributes 75KW, which is enough for the average consumption of 153 houses; understands that, in 2014, renewables generated 49.8% of Scotland’s electricity consumption, making the sector the country’s largest source of power, and considers Harlaw Hydro a worthy finalist at the Green Energy Awards.

For viewers who are checking the Power Meter and wondering why the power generated is going up while the level in reservoir is going down, a word of explanation.  There is a small bug in our data extraction routine which shows positive numbers as negatives.  Our software designers know about it and we expect it to be corrected soon.  For the record at the time of writing we are generating at 82kWh and the reservoir level is 800mm over the overflow.

Harlaw Spillway

Following unseasonally low rainfall in September and October, November clearly decided it was time for unseasonally high rainfall.  During November rainfall was over 200% of normal according to the Met. Office.

At the time of writing both reservoirs are full and overflowing and the hydro scheme is generating as much as possible.  Since mid-November we have been generating around 1800 kWhs per day; this compares with 180 kWhs per day for the 10 weeks prior to that.