A DIRECTOR of the Whalley Community Hydro is looking forwards to a bright green future after the plant produced more energy than expected in its first year.

The hydroelectric project based at the south side of the River Calder in Whalley has generated 382,874 kilowatts (kWh) of renewable energy since the end of November 2014, which has been able to power 83 average sized homes for the same amount of time.

MORE TOP STORIES:

The energy created by the hydro is sent into the national grid.

Any money made is then reinvested into the village and into other projects.

The financial plan for the hydro indicated that the hydro could expect to produce 345,000kWh of electricity a year.

Chris Gathercole, 77, who has lived in Whalley for more than 37 years, said he was very pleased with the progress.

He said: “The efficiency of the hydro has been amazing in the past 12 months.

“We have actually cut back on the amount of electricity we generate as we are not allowed to produce more than 100kWh a day.

“We are over reliant on fossil fuels and we need to find ways of making energy from cleaner sources.

“We have the sun, we have the wind, lakes and rivers, it’s all there for us to use and we must take advantage of them.”

The £750,000 scheme is based on a variable speed Archimedean Screw, and is situated on the Whalley Weir of the River Calder.

The project was first set up in 2010 and finally started generating last year after a four-year battle to raise funds, gain planning permission and starting construction.

Mr Gathercole, a former community service developer for the NHS, said: “The amount of energy we generate is based on the amount of rain we have.

“Ideally we would want enough water to keep the rivers at a healthy level but with the levels we had last week, the hydro couldn’t be used.

“I’m very happy with how it is going and hopefully we can start to produce even more energy to power even more homes.”