A wildlife rescue centre plagued by power cuts has been given new equipment to protect against blackouts.
New Arc has been forced to deal with scary situations for the hundreds of animals in its care after power cuts at its rural site north of Ellon.
But now, thanks to a donation by the electrical energy systems company Norco Group, the problems will be a thing of the past.
Roy Kemp, techincal manager at Norco, said: “We noticed on New Arc’s social media that they were looking for advice on buying a generator to supply their incubators during power cuts.
“We got in touch and asked if they might consider an uninterruptible power supply (UPS).
“We found a suitable unit here at Norco Group that was surplus to requirements so we decided to donate it to New Arc.
“We also supplied a new battery pack and installation materials virtually at cost price.
“A similar installation would normally be in the region of £4,000 but we managed to get them three hours of automatic back-up power and keep their cost down to three figures – a lot of power for the money.”
Keith Marley from New Arc said the donation will make a big difference.
He said: “We’d really like to thank Norco, because, being as rural as we are, we’ve had electricity cuts a lot of time in the past, and almost lost animals because of it.
“We’ve got our new animal hospital now, and we were worried about a similar situation, so this really will give us the breathing space we need.
“The incubators have really become a vital part of our operation now, and they’re really important pieces of equipment for keeping animals alive.
“If we were to lose power for a few hours, it really could result in a sad situation where we could have a loss of life of some animals.”
Mr Kemp said Norco Group is now looking for a company that specialises in generators to collaborate with, and provide New Arc and its animals with even more protection against blackouts.