A pioneering 100% community-owned wind energy project in Dingwall will be the first of its kind in Scotland.
The Dingwall Wind Co-op will own and manage a 250kW wind turbine at Knockbain Farm, just above the town of Dingwall.
A shares scheme for ownership was launched last month, with Ross-shire residents offered the chanced to buy between £250 and £20,0000 in shares.
Off the £856,000 shares on offer, three-quarters have already been sold, worth about £649,000.
The share offer will run until the end of November and the turbine will be built in spring 2014.
The co-operative, which is being developed in collaboration with community energy organisation Sharenergy, will contribute an estimated £8,000 to a local community fund.
“We were initially intending to take out a loan to build the turbine,” said David Lockett of Knockbain Farm, who originally developed the project and gained planning permission for the turbine in December 2012.
“When we heard about the co-operative route it seemed like an obvious way to go with the benefits going back to local people and the community.”
John Halle from Sharenergy said the project was a great example of people investing in their own community.
“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,” he said.
Friends of the Earth Scotland community power campaigner Anne Schiffer said the project demonstrated that people in Scotland had the desire and financial ability to own renewable energy projects.
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