The people of Angus and Perthshire will be offered the chance to own a wind turbine, thanks to a new local renewable energy cooperative.
The Glen Isla project will be the second wholly cooperatively-owned wind turbine development in Scotland.
It follows in the footsteps of the Dingwall Wind Cooperative which recently concluded a successful share offer.
The area is something of a battleground, with windfarm developers targeting the border for development and residents concerned by the proliferation of turbines.
The Glen Isla wind turbine project is, however, being developed by Alastair and Diane Ramsay, who own Wester Derry Farm at Kilry, in the lower reaches of Glen Isla.
And they believe that the project, for which planning permission was obtained in 2011, can be of benefit to the community.
The cooperative will own a 250 kilowatt wind turbine, with members of the public invited to become members of the co-operative buying shares for between £250 and £100,000.
It will also contribute an estimated £4,500 annually to local community funds.
Diane told The Courier: “I am keen to see our farm support renewable technology and this turbine will reduce our reliance on fossil fuel-derived electricity.
“The turbine will feed directly into the local energy network and generate the electricity equivalent to the average consumption of 120 homes.
“I am certain that using a fully cooperative-owned scheme to run the project will bring opportunity and benefit to local people.”
The cooperative has created a website at www.westerderrywind.org.uk and will launch a public share offer next Monday.
A launch event will take place at the Angus Hotel in Blairgowrie, at 7.30pm, on that day and all interested parties are invited to attend. The turbine itself will be built later in the year.
Diane added: “Everyone is becoming so hostile and disenchanted with wind power. Though I can understand why they feel this way, I am not one of those people and I think this is something that the community can embrace.”
The cooperative is being developed in collaboration with Sharenergy, a not-for-profit organisation that helps community groups develop renewable energy cooperatives throughout the UK.
Jon Halle of Sharenergy said: “Co-operatives are common in the rest of Europe and are now taking off over here as a democratic way to share the benefits of renewable energy.
“We’ve been involved in several successful share launches recently and we’re certain that this one will be a success.”
Businessman Nick Joy is a founder director of the co-operative and said: “For renewables to be the great step forward we need, everyone should be able to share the benefits.”