RENEWABLE energy groups across Scotland will benefit from a £1.5 million grant announced by the Scottish Government.
Communities in Barra, Eigg and rural locales will use the funding to research and build energy infrastructure.
The Barra project, backed by the Barra and Vatersay Community Company (BVCC), will use their £23,000 on a creative solution to the problem of aging local wind turbines.
The old 1MW turbines, of a model used across rural Scotland, are no longer manufactured.
So, to save money, the Barra and Vatersay Community Company (BVCC) has designed a collar which will allow turbines from another manufacturer to use their old foundations.
BVCC development director Euan Scott told The National that the grant funding would help with developing the collar, and further the benefit of the wind project which helps to fund services across the community.
He said: "The income is important. We have a fund that releases £50,000 per annum for communities [from wind profits], and we are also in the process of establishing an investment fund for the island.
"It's effectively a wealth fund, it will mean we have ongoing funds available in years to come.
"This funding means we get a bankable technical report that says we can do this. We will be able to go out there and get loan finance and grants in order to deliver the turbine."
The company hopes that their project will go on to help communities across Scotland save money when replacing their own turbines.
Barra's project is one of 19 that will benefit from the fund, which is part of the Scottish Government's Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES).
Another, by power company Eigg Electric, will build 3 100kwh turbines on the island at cost of around £87,000
Eigg Electric developer Labhaoise McKenna said: "Eigg Electric is delighted to be a recipient of the Community Energy Generation fund.
"As a pioneer of community energy generation, we value this support to help us to plan for and further develop our renewable system.
"This fund will help us build a more resilient island community and help us on our journey to 2030 carbon net zero."
Other projects include a £220,000 investment in an Arran wind farm, £138,000 for a 20MW renewables project in Aberdeenshire and £137,000 for a power generation project supporting a bird observatory in Fair Isle.
Zoe Halloway, CEO of charity Community Energy Scotland told The National that the Barra funding would continue the existing wind project's positive impact for the island.
She said: "I think it's really important to speak to the impact these turbines have had in communities like Barra over the timeframe in which they've been operating."
"It's really positive that the Scottish Government has once again opened funding that looks more at the larger scale community energy projects.
"What we're hoping to see is that this will continue into the next phase of CARES, because it's due to be retendered shortly.
"What we would like to see is that over the next phase of CARES that this will be built on, and there'll be an even larger pot for community energy to make big projects viable."
