Originally posted on 2 November 2010

Tutbury Ecopower have recently joined the community hydro power movement. Initially their aim was to refurbish a local goit that used to provide power to a mill. It was similar to our project at Kelham Island. Unfortunately they found that the scheme would require so much work to restore the goit that they couldn’t continue the project.

Undeterred they sought an alternative option to viably produce electricity from the site. Rather than using the goit, they were pleased to find that they could generate 5 times more power if they installed an Archimedes screw at the weir itself. Early feedback from the Environment Agency is positive.

Once they have received the final plans from their consultants, work will continue to complete a hydro scheme expected to generate 400MWh of electricity per year, enough for over 100 typical family homes. They hope that the scheme will save 150 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year.

We wish them the best of luck. To find out more visit their website.