We’ve recently started a new hydro scheme installation.
While these are not as frequent as they used to be in the days of Feed In Tariffs, they remain a worthwhile investment for locations with high electrical demand. In this case our Client owns an Estate with a hotel which has that high demand.
This isn’t a site that’s new to the idea of hydro, but previous assessments carried out by others had looked at much larger schemes, pulling together multiple burns to try to generate grid scale energy. These met a wall with the condition of the local distribution grid and potential upgrade costs. The Client asked us to revisit this after speaking to another of our existing hydro Clients and learning of our work. As a result we were able to identify a viable scheme by breaking down the previous system into smaller lots.
How does hydro power for high electricity demand work?
The 30kW hydro will provide power to the Estate, meeting a significant amount of their electrical power requirement. It’s a high head scheme, and by reducing the abstraction limits and making the scheme fit the environment, rather than the other way around, we have designed what we hope to be a good scheme.
As always with hydro, it’s common to look at the headline power output and consider whether it is worthwhile, but 142,000 kWhr of annual generation is equivalent to a 150kW solar array. And, importantly, it produces the majority of that power during the period of the year when consumption is highest.
The team are welding the penstock, and the turbine house pad has been built. We’ll look to the skies for the right time to get the dam built, and the turbine and controls will go in at the start of autumn.
Are you looking for a better, cheaper and more reliable energy system to cope with your site’s increasing energy needs? Ask Proterra Energy how hydro power for high electricity demands at your site may be the solution.