Estate powers up hydro unit with bank funding

Ardlussa Estate on the island of Jura has sealed a £565,000 deal with Clydesdale Bank to fund the construction of a hydro-electric power scheme.

The bank will lend the money to landowners Andrew and Claire Fletcher, the fifth generation of their family to live on the estate, so that they can create a new source of income for their business.

The scheme is expected to generate up to £100,000 a year for Ardlussa through the sale of excess electricity generated from the Grundale stream – a tributary of the Lussa River – to the national power grid.

Andrew Fletcher said: “Building a hydro-electric scheme at Ardlussa has been on our agenda for several years now, and we are absolutely thrilled to see it come to fruition.”

The Fletchers currently rely on cattle farming and deer stalking as their main sources of income, along with short-term lets of a ten-bedroom stalking lodge.