A Community-Owned Hydroelectric Scheme
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October 2, 2008A share offer for a community-owned hydroelectric scheme was recently launched in Settle, a small town in the Yorkshire dales.
What The Share Offer Means
Individuals, local businesses and social investors get the chance to become members of a ground breaking renewable electricity project that will provide clean, green electricity – a unique way to demonstrate a commitment to a sustainable environmental project.
The Plans
The hydroelectric scheme is a development that plans to install a 50kW hydro power plant at Bridge End Weir, in Settle, Yorkshire. The plant will be community-owned and surplus monies from the sale of hydro electricity will fund local environmental and community projects.
The money raised through the share offer will go towards purchasing and installing the 50kW hydro power plant, which uses a modernised version of a 2,000 year old Greek invention – the Archimedean screw. The hydro plant is capable of generating 184000 kWh of green, renewable electricity every year at no cost to the planet. This is enough electricity to power 46 homes.
About The Shares
Shares cost £1 each, with a minimum shareholding of 250 shares. Settle Hydro Ltd is an Industrial and Provident Society for the Benefit of the Community and will be run on a one-member one-vote principle.
This North Yorkshire initiative expects to raise £100,000 by 15 December 2008.
Some Background And Water Power Enterprises – H2oPE
H2oPE is a social enterprise – a community interest company. Set up in February 07 it has a mission of setting up small-scale hydro plants and reducing carbon emissions.
It will develop ‘low head’ hydro sites using the Archimedean screw which will be installed adjacent to suitable river weirs. The water will run from above the weir, down the screw and turning it, returning to the river just below the weir. The turning motion of the Archimedean screw generates electricity which can then be sold through the national grid.
H2oPE is in a position to produce renewable energy at no cost to the future of the planet and save approx 6,500 tonnes of carbon emissions per year.
Hydroelectricity accounts for half of the renewable energy produced in the UK, yet in all of the publicity surrounding climate change, it is wind and offshore renewables that are highlighted. Hydroelectricity never gets a mention.
H2oPE believes there is an untapped potential for hydroelectricity that exists almost in every river and it’s being overlooked by the government and potential investors. That untapped potential drove the early stages of the industrial revolution and the infrastructure is still there.
River weirs were constructed by their thousands and generated mechanical power for the industrial revolution. H2oPE proposes re-using the river weirs for their original intention, the generation of power though this time they’ll use them to develop electrical energy instead of mechanical energy. This will tap into a vastly underused resource that can mobilise local community involvement whilst delivering a blended return on investment.
Maybe in the north OUR rivers have enough water for communities to follow suit?
2 Comments
This is a very worthwhile development. The Archimedes screw turbine is between the most efficient breast-shot waterwheels and the very expensive Kaplan and Francis turbines hitherto used for low fall schemes, but these are still worth considering.
There are numerous weirs which can be seen on the Dales Way walk, on the Wharfe, Dee, Rawthey and Kent, all crying out for re-use. The factors which made them uneconomic in the past, such as seasonal flow variation and the arrival of cheap electricity on the grid, have gone now that the grid is committed to taking renewable power at any hour of the day or night as and when available, using induction generation.
If we are looking for a sound investment this is it.
It is a pleasant change to see the emergence of Community Owned small scale schemes, especially the use of the income acquired for for the direct benefit of the community.
Maybe the government in Australia will encourage the creation of similar small scale urban models utilising small scale Turby type wind powered generators and the urban stormwater/surface drainage systems, as well as the metropolitan tapwater reticulation systems, for water turbines.