HYDRO ELECTRICITY

This page explains it better then we have here.

Glen Lyn Gorge is in Lynmouth in north Devon, and is a 300kW hydro scheme “buried” in the side of Glen Lyn Gorge which is located in the centre of Lynmouth village, where two rivers, the East and West Lyn, converge. The scheme has a head of 78m and generates 300kW at full power. The site is open to the public.

Sowton Mill, Dunsford, Exeter. One of the smallest hydro schemes in the country (about 25Kw). This site has been a mill for 400 years, and has recently been turned into a modern hydro-electric scheme. You can see an overview of this here (Case Study 5).

Ringwood Hydro plant Ringwood, Hants. I cannot find out anything else about this plant, any information would be welcome.

The Barton Locks hydro-electric generating station is situated on the Manchester Ship Canal in a disused pumphouse only 8km from Manchester city centre. It is the first of its kind in the UK that uses a water course that is normally dedicated to shipping. Generally producing a maximum 660kW of electricity for the grid, the total cost of the turnkey project was £850,000

Gants Mill (see "Power of Water" above) is an historic water mill in South Somerset, with a colourful history dating back over a 1000 years. It stands on the River Brue, which has an average annual flow rate of 566 litres/second. This project has installed a turbine and generator into the old wheel-pit of the mill. The peak electrical output is 12kW, which is exported to the grid.

Glenridding, Ullswater in Cumbria Water from a small head pond, created by a concrete dam beside an abandoned lead mine, is diverted to a turbine house through a 1700m pipeline. The water powers a 500kW turbine. The project generates sufficient electricity to meet the average needs of 300 homes, and by August 1994 had supplied 4,000MWh of electricity to the grid.

Armitage Bridge Mills, Huddersfield, South Yorkshire. The turbines at the site exploit the energy potential of the River Holme. The site is part of a large industrial mill complex which has used water power for many years. Since 1985, the electricity generated has been exported to the grid. Average delivery to the grid has been 200,000kWh/year.

Romney Lock, Windsor. Innogy Plc Plan for Hydro-Electric Scheme. Have a look at this site.

• 1st November 2004:NEW Queen Goes for Green Power THE Queen was the toast of the green movement yesterday after it emerged that an innovative hydroelectric power scheme is to be installed at Windsor Castle.

The Elan Valley hydro-electric scheme consists of 5 small hydropower stations, built during the last decade, and hidden at the foot of the valleys’ already existing four dams on the rivers Elan and Claerwen. The 4.2MW hydropower scheme in the Elan valley. Output from each scheme: Claerwen: 1680kW, Craig Coch: 480kW, Pen-y-Garreg: 810kW, Caban Coch: 950kW, Foel Tower: 300kW.

Llyn Brianne, near Llandovery, located at the base of the Llyn Brianne reservoir and dam - one of the tallest clay core dams in Europe - this scheme generates enough electricity, with a power output of 4.3MW, to serve the annual needs of 6,200 homes.

Llyn Celyn, Bala, Gwynedd. Located at the base of a reservoir, this hydro scheme generates enough electricity to serve the needs of 5,500 homes (about 2.5MW).

River Tawe Hydro Power - Tawe Barrage, Swansea A 92kw propeller type hydro turbine forms part of the Swansea Tawe Barrage scheme.

Alphabeds (who make beds) have their own on-site crossflow turbine that they have installed that can generate 24 kilowatts of electric power. That doesn’t sound a lot but the average house over a 24-hour period uses about 480 watts per hour. That’s about 35 houses worth of electricity they are not taking out of the grid.

Alphabeds also used combined heat and power technology to extract the waste heat from their boilers and also burn their own wood waste (which is a zero carbon fuel). Far sighted of them.

Rheidol Hydropower Station, Cwm Rheidol, Aberystwyth. Centred on the valley of the River Rheidol, this is the largest conventional hydro-electric station in England & Wales, with a capacity of 56MW.

Nant Farm, Llanrhaeadr ym Mochnant, (near Oswestry), Powys. This is a 360 kW run-of-river hydro-electric scheme on the Afon Iwrch. Stone-faced weir and buried pipeline and power house provide energy with minimal environmental impact. A lot less visible than a 2MW turbine and a bit more useful.

Maentwrog Power Station, Blaenau Ffestiniog, Gwynedd. Nestled amongst the hills of Maentwrog, is this 30MW Hydro power scheme. Fed by Trawsfynydd Lake, the site includes a small visitor facility with video describing how the project works.

Shawater Ltd. is one of the United Kingdom's largest firms specialising in hydro-electric power schemes of up to 10 Megawatts. Their website is well worth a look and gives you an idea of what could be done with more investment. The next 3 schemes are covered on their website as well.

Cwmorthin Hydropower Station, Afon Cwmorthin, Gwyneddd. Located on the Afon Cwmorthin in the heart of the slate quarrying industry on the edge of Snowdonia, this scheme has one Pelton wheel turbine. It generates 410kW of power, (enough electricity to serve the annual needs of 600 homes). Demand for power rises in winter, which is when river flows are at their peak so output is naturally aligned with demand (a useful feature of most hydro-electricity plants).

Aberdulais Falls was bought by the National Trust in 1982 and chosen as a site to generate power from renewable resources. The site, near Swansea in West Glamorgan, has existed since Roman times and was previously used for copper works, corn milling and tucking tin plating. It generates 25kW of power, enough for around 40 houses.

Lowerymore hydro power (Ireland) scheme is similar to Aberdulais in style and objective. The scheme produces over 0.5MW of power. This is enough for 1400 people, around half the population of the local town of Donegal. The site is located in a heavily outcropped and rocky area and is a good example of a scheme that cause little or no environmental impact.

Wondering why DART are pro Hydro Electric Power but against wind power? Follow this link...