A West Oxford community group is in the running for a £1m prize in a national climate change competition.

Local residents have come up with a scheme to generate their own renewable electricity using the River Thames for hydro- electricity.

They also hope to create solar and wind power by erecting solar panels on large buildings and creating wind turbines at Harcourt Hill.

The Low Carbon West Oxford group's ambitious energy producing plans clinched a place in the final of the Big Green Challenge competition, which is being run by Nesta (the National Endowment for Science, Technology & Arts).

The Oxford group saw off competition from 350 entrants from around the UK. And making the final has earned it £20,000 to put its plans to tackle climate change into practice.

The residents hope the electricity they generate can be sold on to local businesses and households at competitive rates.

Barbara Hammond, one of the organisers, said: "There are massive buildings with big roofs in West Oxford and we want to lease them for free and use them for solar panels.

"We want them to be on public show so people can see them operating. We also want to generate electricity using the river and wind.

"We will sell the electricity to local organisations and businesses and re-invest the proceeds to help local households make energy savings, which will save them money on expensive fuel bills. It's an idea that lots of other communities can use too.

"We are really excited to be a finalist for the £1m prize and to receive the initial funding to make the project work over the next year."

A high profile judging panel, including Lord Puttnam, will decide on the overall winner in November 2009.

West Oxford is one of 10 finalists, and over the next 12 months, the group's efforts to reduce carbon dioxide emissions will be carefully monitored.

The competition was launched by Nesta, which is funded by the National Lottery, in response to its concerns that Government policy and investment focuses too heavily on science and technology fix-all solution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Jonathan Kestenbaum, Nesta chief executive, said: "We know that local communities have the drive, passion and knowledge to devise innovative responses to climate change. Low Carbon West Oxford is a powerful contender for the £1m prize.

"Too often people only associate innovation with technology. The Big Green Challenge shows that people-powered innovation can make a difference to the big issues of today."

On Sunday, Low Carbon West Oxford is holding a drop in session at West Oxford Community Centre from 2pm.