halton – Halton Lune Hydro

EIS for community energy projects

halton — Mon, 24 Nov 2014 10:44:03 +0000

Community Energy England issued the following warning in their last Newsletter:

At present, investors in renewable energy projects can obtain tax relief under the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) if they buy shares in a community energy enterprise, but not in a commercial company undertaking renewable energy projects.
As previously advised, Treasury is now consulting on the possibility of removing this tax concession.
Working with others, we have submitted an excellent response showing that this prospect would be devastating for the sector. We know that DECC is also talking to Treasury about this, in particular because of the adverse effect it would have on the community energy strategy.
The final outcome is likely to be announced at the time of the Chancellor’s autumn statement in early December. We are currently getting conflicting signals about the eventual result.
Any community groups planning to issue EIS-eligible share offers in the near future should consider whether they are now, or soon could be, in a position to apply for advance clearance or make a formal application for EIS relief. If you are at, or close to, either of those points; our advice would be to consult your advisers on whether you should play safe and submit your application as soon as you can.

Floor laid ready for turbine arriving Monday

halton — Mon, 24 Nov 2014 10:29:19 +0000

This is how the turbine house was looking on Saturday night, after the concrete floor had been laid ready for the arrival of Hydrohrom and the turbine from the Czech Republic on Monday morning.The concrete will take a few days to set and be stroug enough for the crane and turbine, but there is plenty of work to be done meanwhile as the screen cleaners are also arriving and need to be installed.

Crane installed

halton — Wed, 05 Nov 2014 18:36:37 +0000

Here’s a picture of the crane going in to the Turbine building, before the roof starts to go on tomorrow. The crane is needed to lift the turbine into place when it arrives later this month!

Turbine inlets and outlet draft tubes arrive

halton — Wed, 23 Jul 2014 08:42:48 +0000

The was lots of excitement on Monday with the arrival of two articulated lorries from the Czech Republic with our turbine inlets and outlet draft tubes, together with three engineers from Hydrohrom, who will spend three days installing them. Then we can create the concrete slab that is going over the area between fish screens and building.
The fish pass will be next, with work starting in just under two weeks time.

Due Diligence Report gives Halton Lune Hydro a green light

halton — Thu, 10 Jul 2014 10:00:21 +0000

We decided that, in addition to our own careful calculations and those of several independent contractors, that we would commission an independent ‘Due Diligence’ report to check that we are on the right track with our project, given that we haven’t had a bank carry out their own due diligence procedure.. We chose Kate Gilmartin from the Micro Hydro Association and ‘My Green Investment‘ because of her experience of many other micro hydro projects in the UK, including several other community ones.
We are very pleased to share the final conclusion that:

This assessment has shown that the hydro scheme is a valid investment opportunity. The assessment has shown the technical approach of Halton Lune Hydro to be robust…However, with this investment, the rate of return figures can only be used as indicative, due to the many variables discussed. This report has determined that even under extreme modelled conditions, where the scheme generates significantly less than anticipated, the project should still provide a return that is comparable to other smaller hydro projects.

You can download a full copy of the report here

Pre accreditation of Feed in Tariff granted

halton — Wed, 02 Jul 2014 15:00:25 +0000

We have received confirmation from Ofgem granting “FIT preliminary accreditation” to Halton Lune Hydro. This means that we will receive the rate applicable on December 31st 2013 of 16.41p per kWh as long as we are generating electricity by December 31st 2015.

We also received some clarification about the status of the grants that we received from Defra and Lancaster City Council in relation to the FIT. The Ofgem email confirms that:

“You may retain any grant made for a purpose:
1) unrelated to purchasing or installing the installation
2) related to mitigating environmental harm
We need to see evidence showing that the drawn down sum matched or was less than the costs associated with 1 and 2 above”

As we are expecting to spend more money on “mitigating environmental harm” (including installing a fish pass and fish screens) than we received in grants we do not expect a problem in retaining all of our grant money and receiving the FIT.

Visit from Greg Barker MP, Energy Minister

halton — Tue, 17 Jun 2014 05:54:41 +0000

Greg Barker MP, the minister for Energy & Climate Change visited Halton Lune Hydro today with David Morris the local MP. In an interview with Bay Radio he said that he welcomed the renaissance of water power in the North West and that we were a model for others to follow. “This is a real inspiration…more communities than ever before are taking things into their own hands and helping to generate some or all of the power they need in their daily lives.”

David Morris MP said: “I was looking forward to welcoming the Minister to Halton today, Halton Lune Hydro is a fine example of the community working together to generate clean energy. When Halton Lune Hydro is up and running it will generate around 1,000 MW of electricity which is enough electricity to power around 300 homes.”

“There will also be significant community benefits, all of the profits will be invested into a Trust and individuals as well as community groups will be able to apply for some of the funding.”

Green Party leader visits our hydro

halton — Wed, 16 Apr 2014 19:06:58 +0000

Natalie Bennett, the Green Party Leader, was in Halton today visiting Halton Lune Hydro. She had already heard about us from our stall at the Green Party Conference, and had tweeted her support, but now she had a chance to talk to two of our Directors and see how the build is progressing.

Natalie was very interested in the industrial history of the area and the power that has been generated from the Lune over hundreds of years. She is also keen to promote the possibility of schemes like ours being able to sell the electricity generated to local users rather than be exported to the grid.

Tax advantages of investing in Halton Lune Hydro

halton — Wed, 12 Mar 2014 09:14:32 +0000

You can invest anything from £250 to £20,000 (£50,000 from 5th April) in shares in Halton Lune Hydro and there are some personal tax advantages in doing so. We’re not able to give you any personal financial advice, so you should contact your usual advisor for that. However we can point you in the direction of the information.

The Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) applies to investment in shares in a ‘Society for the Benefit of the Community’, which is what we are. According to Money Observer “The schemes offer investors significant benefits: investors who invest for a minimum period of three years benefit from 30 per cent tax relief as well as exemption from capital gains tax (CGT) and inheritance tax (IHT)” Read more here.

Halton Lune Hydro has to apply formally to be registered for EIS and we are currently in the process of doing this.

Tour of hydro site and public meeting

halton — Wed, 12 Mar 2014 07:48:25 +0000

There will be a tour of the hydro site between 11am and 12 noon on Thursday 13th March, meeting at Halton Mill for a chance to meet some of the Directors and get more information. There will be a light lunch (Soup and Bread) afterwards.

There is a public meeting at Halton Community Centre on Thursday 10 April from 7pm to report again on progress. Shareholders, potential share holders and others who are interested are all welcome and will have the opportunity to question the Hydro team. We look forward to seeing lots of you there