Osney Lock Hydro has been set up by a group of local residents to enable the development of a community-owned hydro scheme in the heart of Oxford. It is the first community hydro scheme in Oxfordshire to gain planning permission in readiness for investment.

We want to harness the power of the river to generate green energy and reduce our community’s carbon emissions. The hydro will also create a sustainable income stream to fund environmental projects well into the next half of the century.

Set on the banks of the river Thames at Osney Lock, opposite the site of Oxford’s first electrical power station, it is one of only three sites suitable for hydro generation in the city. Building work is planned for the summer of 2013, with electricity generation starting in February 2014.

This project has been under development since 2002, and been brought to investment readiness by West Oxford Community Renewables (WOCoRe), a local group with a track record in successfully delivering community-owned renewable projects.

Osney Lock Hydro has now been set up as an independent Industrial and Provident Society for the benefit of the community, with the specific aim of raising the funds required to build the scheme.