Scotland's first urban hydro power scheme has been given the go-ahead in Aberdeen.

Donside Hydro is being developed by a community group which says it will generate £30,000 every each year by selling power back to the national grid, as well as powering 130 homes.

The project involves cutting a channel into the River Don and construction work is expected to begin in late May.

Sinclair Lang, director of Aberdeen Community Energy (ACE), said: "We are very excited to have reached such an important milestone in the project.

"We at ACE, together with our partners at the Donside Community Organisation, have been working towards launching the scheme for the past three years and we're finally in a position where we can share the project with the world, and open it up to investment.

"We're already working closely with members of the Donside and Tillydrone areas to identify priorities for the community fund, with our immediate focus being on improving the riverside for public use."

ACE plans to launch a community share offer in the next few weeks.

Donside Hydro will be built on the site of the former Donside Papermill, which closed in 2001 with the loss of 250 jobs.

Mr Lang added: "It's reliving the history of the site. The mill drew water from the river to power itself back in the day.

"The concept here is to bring that back to life in a modern way, creating renewable energy from a portion of the river.

"So we'll cut a channel into the land creating a lade that once existed, and run water over a screw to generate power here."