Share offer launched to finance first community-owned hydro power station in Greater Manchester
Cooperative Stockport Hydro is looking for individuals and businesses to buy shares in the plant it is constructing at Otterspool Weir.
The hydro power station, which will be the first community-owned plant of its kind in Greater Manchester, is being built on an old mill site on the outskirts of Stockport. It is designed to generate enough electricity for 50 homes for at least the next 40 years.
The project is being managed by H2oPE, a social enterprise hydro development scheme, and has already raised more than £250,000 to fund the plant. It will be run for the benefit of the community on a one-member, one-vote basis. Shares cost one pound, with a minimum shareholding of £250.
Louise Fowler, one of the scheme’s directors and a local resident, said: “Buying shares in Stockport Hydro means that you’ll be helping to produce green electricity, with no cost to the planet, you’ll get a fair return on your investment and, as an added bonus, you’ll help fund local environmental and community projects.”
