Charles puts life back into Victorian plant

THE Duke of Rothesay is well known for talking to plants in an attempt to encourage them to grow.

Now Prince Charles has paid a visit to Braemar to bring a Victorian hydroelectric plant back to life.

The scheme on the Corriemulzie burn was once used to generate power for the Mar Lodge, which belonged to Queen Victoria’s granddaughter Louise, Princess Royal and Royal Duchess of Fife.

For the last six years, residents of the Aberdeenshire town have been working on having it rebuilt.

The development, which has been funded by around 200 investors from the town, will use water from the river to generate low-carbon electricity for the national grid and any profits made will be reinvested in the area.

Prince Charles visited the plant to meet the people who have made the development possible.

Project manager Michael Bestwick and director of Braemar Community Hydro Alistair Hubbard welcomed the prince.

He then pressed a button, allowing water to flow into the turbine to signal the initiative was complete.

The prince then moved to Braemar Village Hall, where he met around 40 people who had invested in the scheme.

Mr Hubbard said: “It’s a relief. I’m very pleased and it’s great to see all the hard work done in the community come to fruition.

“Having the Duke of Rothesay here is the icing on the cake for me.”

James Buchan, a development officer at Local Energy Scotland, identified the potential of the project from an early stage.

He said: “The plant will generate 100kw and generate an income scheme for the area. It will provide a huge amount of local benefit. We’re moving towards a system of decentralisation of energy in Scotland where more is generated locally.”

It is expected to generate between £5,000-£10,000 every year.