Since the shares issue was launched on 17th October, we have received a total of £347,700 from 112 investors. We’re delighted that £126,600 of this has come from Applecross residents, which is amazing for a tiny community with a total population of just 225. We urge all those considering investing in the scheme with a view to benefitting from 30% tax relief through the Enterprise Investment Scheme to to do so soon. This scheme comes to an end on 29th November and HMRC will require to see evidence of payments into the bank account by that date. 29th is a Sunday, so it would be wise to invest by 25th November at the latest to ensure that you qualify.
We’re aiming to raise a total of £780,000 if we can. If we can raise the total cost of the scheme through shares, the community will benefit from an income of around £25,000 per annum. If we have to borrow to fill a gap then the income to the community will be less, as we will have to pay higher interest rates on a loan and also pay it back faster than shares. It’s clear from enquiries that there are still quite a number of people interested in investing and each day there are 4 or 5 envelopes with application forms and cheques arriving.
The eleven pupils at Applecross Primary School visited the hydro scheme last week and had the chance to see the inside of the newly installed turbine and hear how it worked. The turbine is a Canyon Pelton, manufactured on the USA. The children were asked to come up with names for it, and suggestions included Hamish Hydro, Calum Canyon and Elton Pelton. We were impressed by their existing knowledge about renewable energy and it was clear from their focussed questions that they were adding a good understanding of the way our own hydro scheme works to that. We hope that in twenty years time some of these children will be among those making decisions on how the income from the hydro will be spent.
