Life will never be the same again on the inner-hebridean island of Muck following today's (Thursday 27th August) official inauguration of a unique new power generating scheme.

The wind-power project will mean cheap and near-continuous electricity for the islanders after decades of relying on diesel generators.

The system was officially switched on by Alasdair Morrison MSP, Minister for the Highlands and Islands and Gaelic.

The island of Muck is one of Lochaber's 'Small Isles', lying 10 miles off the west coast of Scotland. With a full-time population of only 38, relying on a twice-weekly passenger-only ferry service, life could have been considered challenging enough without the problems posed by the poor electricity supply.

A windpower project was initially considered about 10 years ago and European funding approved - however the main contractor involved went into receivership and the project was eventually abandoned, but not before the islanders themselves had done a great deal of work in laying cables and trunking, and connecting all the properties on the island.

Despite these setbacks the local community's conviction that a windpower scheme was viable, and their determination to see it succeed have now led to the design and installation of a system specially designed for the island. This combines both wind and diesel power through a sophisticated remote control system which monitors the power being generated. The community have agreed to 'priority hours' for their power supply, between 8 and 11am and between 7 and 12pm, during these times if the windpower drops below an agreed minimum level the diesel generators are automatically started to compensate. Equally households are informed, by radio control, if excess power is available and can choose to use that for storage heaters. The system will still be subject to the vagaries of the weather - if there is no wind outside the 'priority hours' there will be no power supply.

The project has cost £238,000 with funding coming from a variety of sources. Lochaber Limited, the Local Enterprise Company, have invested £75,000 - with a further £20,000 coming from the local European LEADER partnership; the National Lottery Charities Board have provided £95,000; The Highland Council - £18,000; and private donations/trusts - £20,000.

Despite their small numbers the community themselves have also raised £10,000, although this doesn't include the work they did laying cables and building the power-house. They also formed a community company to organise the project funding and implementation.

Ewen McEwen, chairman of the community company and local resident said: "It is enormously satisfying to see this scheme in place and providing power after years of hard work on the part of the islanders and those who supported us. It is hard to describe to someone who lives elsewhere the huge impact a reliable and less expensive power supply will have on the island."

Chief executive of Lochaber Limited Jackie Wright said: "The small isles of Lochaber are very important to us - and we have been committed to this project for a long time. It is especially pleasing to see the employment opportunities this provides for people on Muck. Reliable electricity means they will be able live here and work remotely via email and the internet."

Highland Councillor for Mallaig and the Small Isles, Charlie King, said: "I am very happy The Highland Council have been able to play a part in this massive step forward for the island of Muck."

A great deal of work and investment on the project and has been done by Glasgow-based engineering company Ingenco ltd, a new company established in May 2000 following a succesful buy-out of the former ScottishPower Technology business. Ingenco's engineering expertise ensured the system was capable of meeting the islanders' needs and assisted in tackling any technical issues which arose. The company also funded the building of the control room at the base of the turbines.

Ian Irvine, a senior engineer from Ingenco said: "We had a lot of problems to overcome but, with the commitment of our engineering team and the islanders, a successful and inspirational project has been created. Our staff have gained some very valuable experience which will be useful to us in dealing with any similar systems in future."

Support for the project also came from the Highlands and Islands Enterprise network's expert help programme which provided the services of an innovation and technology counsellor.

On the island the power supply will be run by Isle of Muck Power Ltd, a subsidiary of the community company, they will meter the power used and issue bills to individual households. Wind-generated electricity will cost four pence per unit, with diesel power at 14 pence. The income from the scheme will cover repair and maintenance work and will eventually fund the replacement of the turbines when they reach the end of their useful life in about 20 years.