Perth based Green Highland Renewables, the leading Scottish developer of small to medium scale hydro generation schemes, has completed a £3.3m investment led by SEP’s Environmental Energies Fund, alongside participation from Scottish Enterprise.
The funding will enable the company to develop its growing pipeline of hydro generation sites as well as servicing the increasing demand it is experiencing from clients for consulting, project management and operation and maintenance services.
Green Highland Renewables was founded in 2007 and specialises in developing small scale ‘run of river’ hydro projects from about 100kW to 2MW. The company provides advice and solutions to landowners and communities through the whole process of design, finance, procurement and operation.
The hydro power market offers significant unexploited potential. According to Scottish Renewables, Scotland currently has 1.4GW of hydro power, with growth potential, in particular for the development of small and medium sized schemes.
Ian Cartwright, Managing Director, Green Highland Renewables, said:
“We are delighted to have closed this substantial investment round. Hydro electric site development is a complex process, from prospecting to commissioning. It is therefore important that the company has access to substantial development capital to enable us to take advantage of the growing number of opportunities.”
“This injection of capital means, in addition to servicing demand from our existing clients, we can actively seek out new clients potentially requiring help with site development. We are actively looking for more schemes that we can develop with landowners. These schemes, once completed, can provide landowners with long term relatively risk free income.”
Tony Robison, of SEP said:
“We consider Green Highland Renewables to be ideally placed to exploit the significant growth opportunity in the small to medium scale hydro market. Ian and the rest of the team have an excellent track record, a growing pipeline of site opportunities and have built a trusted brand in the hydro market. Our investment will enable the company to expand its operations and cement its position as the leading Scottish-based developer of run of river hydro generation schemes.”
Kerry Sharp, acting head of the Scottish Investment Bank, said:
“The Scottish Investment Bank is very pleased to be supporting GHR alongside Scottish Equity Partners. Scotland has an ambition to source 100% of its electricity demand from renewable sources by 2020, and it’s companies like this, which are actively seeking more ways to increase our renewable energy output, that will help us achieve that ambition.”
