GREEN energy will soon be generated from Craven’s first community-run hydro-electric plant at Settle.

Work on a £420,000 eco-friendly energy scheme – using water from the River Ribble – began in summer after the money was raised through grants and a share scheme, with pop band Take That’s Jason Orange probably the most famous shareholder to date.

The new hydro-electric station at Bridge End Weir, expected to be running ‘in weeks’, uses age-old technology based on an Archimedean screw.

Power from river water running past the 7.5 metre-long, 7.5 tonne screw, next to the original mill race, will provide electricity for the National Grid.

Profits will be divided between the shareholders and the community. The community money will be used to fund other projects.

Fish can travel down the screw without harm and the control system will only allow water into the system within strict limits governed by the Environment Agency.

The screw was transported from its place of manufacture in Ritz Atro, Germany, via lorry on October 23 and arrived in Settle on Wednesday last week. It has now been placed in its purpose-built trench next to a new “fish ladder”.

“Everything is going well,” said Settle Hydro Ltd director Ann Harding, who has been working on the project as a volunteer alongside Steve Amphlett, chairman of Settle and District Chamber of Trade.

“The salmon have been passing through the fish ladder with no problem.

"We’ve also repaired part of the weir wall so the whole of the area has been improved.”