A SCHEME to generate hydro electricity in south Shropshire has secured the £150,000 funding it needs.

The money has been raised through a share offer with many of the investors from the local area.

Neen Sollars Community Hydro Co-operative (NSCH Co-op) Ltd has completed their share offer to finance the Tetstill Mill hydropower project.

This includes a major commitment from a local social enterprise (Cleobury Country Limited) which purchased the first share.

The project was five per cent oversubscribed with the vast majority of the shareholders from the Cleobury Mortimer area though some are from as far away as London Bill Duley, for NSCH Co-op, said orders had been placed for the key equipment and the unit could be producing electricity before the year’s end.

NSCH Co-op will build a 12.5 kW hydroelectric installation at Tetstill Mill, Neen Sollars on the River Rea.

It will produce green electricity to the local electrical grid, providing around 20 per cent of the domestic power use in the village of Neen Sollar.

This is the first harnessing of the large water power potential of the Rea since the last watermills were phased out in the 1900's.

It will be a beacon for the region as it will be one of the very few renewable energy installations in the West Midlands and the first one to be community owned in this way.