Originally published on 25 November 2009

Our initial assessment suggests that the Jordan Dam scheme might cost around £450,000 to build and could generate around 380MWh/year of electricity. This is enough to power 130 typical family homes [1]. Sourcing this much electricity from hydroelectric generation rather than the national grid would save about 200 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year [2]. If you are interested in the details of the initial technical assessment that Sheffield Renewables’ Technical Team has carried out, you can find out more by reading the ‘Weir Survey and Energy Modelling Report’ which can be downloaded from the Resources section of our website.

Richard Collins, an engineer at Sheffield University and one of Sheffield Renewables’s core volunteers said “our preliminary work suggests that Jordan Dam is the most promising site for a hydro electric scheme in Sheffield. It could generate a significant amount of green electricity. We have employed a highly regarded consultant to complete a full site assessment and estimate the potential costs and returns.”

To get more accurate figures on the hydro electricity generating potential of Jordan Dam, along with the costs and revenues for the scheme, we have appointed Derwent Hydro, based in the UK, to carry out an independent feasibility study of the site. We will get the results of the feasibility study by February 2010. If you haven’t already, you can keep track of any developments by signing up to receive our bimonthly newsletter and following us on Facebook and Twitter. Updates will be covered in more detail on the blog so keep checking the Sheffield Renewables homepage for news.

Once we have the results of the study we hope to establish a time scale for a share offer and subsequent installation of the hydroelectric generator. The share offer will be open to individuals and businesses within Sheffield, providing them with an ethical investment opportunity which will also help to improve their environment. Some people have already pledged to buy shares that cover the capital costs of our first scheme. If you haven’t pledged yet, but would like to do so, you can check out the Invest section of our website for more information.

Notes:

[1] This is based on an average UK household electricity consumption of 3,935kWh per household per year. Provided by the Energy Saving Trust.

[2] This is based on a carbon dioxide emission rate of 0.537kg carbon dioxide/kWh of grid generated electricity from The Carbon Trust.