Site work on Congleton's Community Hydro Project will commence at the beginning of August.

Dane Valley Community Energy will be installing and operating a hydro-electric generation plant on the River Dane at Havannah Weir, Congleton.

A total of £703,000 was invested via the Community Share Offer. In the Congleton Hydro Team's latest newsletter, the group of volunteers, said: "Once again a Big Thank You to those of you who have invested - you really are the ones making the dream turn into reality."

A £57,000 investment has been made by the Power to Change Community Share Booster Matching Scheme - which has allowed the group to increase the contingency allowance by £30,000.

In addition, the group have received a grant of £10,000 from the Cheshire East Bright Ideas Fund to enhance the boardwalk's suitability for delivering the Education Programme.

There was also a grant of £73,000 from the Regional Communities Energy Fund to further enhance the education programme and reduce the tree and vegetation ingress of the Grade II Listed Weir Structure.

Despite restrictions imposed by coronavirus, the whole project is moving ahead "quite smoothly".

After a competitive bidding process, the order for the Archimedes Screw has been placed with Landustrie of the Netherlands, and installation/mechanical drawings have been approved with delivery expected on schedule in October.

After the Archimedes Screw, the most "important element" of the work is the site works and civils construction.

The contract for this has been awarded to CT Construction. CT, who are based in the High Peaks, have good experience of projects being constructed on river plains and have also undertaken the civils for a similar Hydro Scheme.

Their Project Manager, for the Congleton Hydro Scheme, Oliver Tolputt is the current Chair of the NW Branch of the Institution of Civils Engineers.

The newsletter added: "They are currently beavering away preparing all the necessary documentation, site plans, bills of quantities, Health and Safety responsibilities and organograms, etc."

Construction CT will physically start site work on 3rd August. A contract has also been placed with Dutton Contractors for the installation of the cable from the generator to Siemens (who are purchasing the power).

The buried cable is just under 1km in length, crosses two public highways plus the land of a School Academy and a farm.

The team of volunteers said: "We are grateful to these two properties for agreeing to enter into wayleave contracts for this work to be undertaken. The cable installation programme will commence on August 3rd and last a few weeks."

A key enabler for this work is the implementation/discharge of the "pre-work" planning conditions—mainly associated with tree protection and ecology/environmental updates.

These can be viewed on the Cheshire East planning portal.

The newsletter stated that a worry during "the lockdown" was surrounding any serious delay in the progress of the construction of the Congleton Relief Road, as these works directly affect the site access for the Congleton Hydro construction traffic.

The team added: "Work, however, has been proceeding and should be sufficiently complete for our site programme to go ahead without serious delay."

The team currently plan to be generating by January/February 2021, which would only be one/two months behind the original plan.

The weir, which has been in place for more than 250 years, will be re-used to generate energy from rainwater – making clean, renewable power that will have a positive impact on the environment.