Glenfernate Hydro Scheme
In 2012, Glenfernate went green. We installed a hydro electric scheme to provide power for the farm and most of the houses, and it has been running ever since.
It takes water out of Loch Crannach and it pipes it down under pressure to a turbine house about a mile up the glen. The resulting electricity travels along a high voltage cable to the farm. Some of the power we use ourselves; the rest is put into the grid to be used by others. Only Daldhu cottage is not on the scheme: it was just too far to reach.
The water pipe and the electricity cables are all buried. The turbine house is faced with natural stone. So we tried to make the whole scheme as environmentally friendly as possible – not like those wind farms springing up all over Scotland!
So when you cook on an electric stove at Glenfernate, or lie in a hot bath, it’s good to know that the energy all comes from the power of falling water, just a mile away.
