Hydro firm raises £2m for 15 new projects

Hydro energy firm Green Highland Renewables has raised £2 million from investors after it secured a deal to develop up to 15 small-scale schemes on land owned by the Forestry Commission Scotland.

Iain Wotherspoon, the chairman of the Perth-based firm, said it will invest around £1.5m per scheme and the joint venture deal made Green Highland Renewables the “largest developer of small-scale hydro schemes in Scotland”.

The company has also appointed Ian Cartwright as managing director to oversee the next phase of its development.

Cartwright, who replaces the firm’s founder Alastair Riddell, has made a career in renewable energy delivery in Scotland, having built up and sold his own £1m business, J S Cartwright and Company, to Scottish Hydro Contracting in 1999.

Riddell will remain on the board as an executive director of the business.

Riddell said: “Green Highland now sits at a very exciting juncture in its development.

“Our order book is expanding, enquiries are increasing and, the opportunities we are creating are growing in number. It is time for the business to move up a gear.

“Ian is exactly the right person to take Green Highland to the next level.”

Cartwright added: “The Green Highland proposition is very exciting.

“The company is in the right place at the right time with tremendous potential for growth through its range of models for hydro either as developers, joint venture partners, or as project managers to owner developers.”