News / Blog
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High water at Whalley Hydro
This is the highest since the big flood of June 2012. The electrical equipment in the generating building is high on the walls well above the 100 year flood level. If water does enter the building all the equipment is safe. The screw stops when the water gets high as there is no head of water to power it. You might think when there is as much water as this we must be generating lots of ...
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Why do people invest in community energy projects?
A survey of Whalley Community Hydro members on email helps to answer this question. It was conducted during the week of 2 November 2015 to get feedback on motivation for investing in Whalley Community Hydro. In summary, we have a picture of community minded investors who are seriously concerned about climate change and for whom energy security is also a consideration. The major reasons for investing for nearly all respondents is not financial reward although this ...
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Treasury blow to community energy
The Treasury has just announced that they will exclude community energy projects from the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS). It appears that they don’t like double-subsidies (e.g. FITs plus tax relief) in spite of being in favour back in March. We are told that shares need to be issued by 30 November 2015 for investors to qualify for the relief – even where investments have received advance assurance. There has been no prior warning of this ...
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Ribble Valley Business Awards 2015 scoop for Whalley Hydro
Whalley Community Hydro scooped three awards at the Ribble Valley Business Awards 2015 last night. “To win three awards shows great confidence in clean, green energy in Ribble Valley,” said Graham Sowter, Whalley Community Hydro chair, who received the awards at the ceremony. The top award, the Bowland BioEnergy Award celebrates the ‘best of the best’ as the judges' criteria says. The winner of this category is ‘a local business that is the most inspiring entry across ...
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Containing sound from the screw
A new pvc curtain has been fitted at the outlet to damp the sound from the splashing of the screw. At certain river levels and outputs from the screw a sound has been heard which neighbours tell us can be a problem. Other micro hydro plants have found the pvc curtain to be effective in controlling the sound. Initially we tried altering the setting points which control the speed of the screw. This did have ...
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Performance update
Output has now exceeded 50% of the predicted annual output figure of 345MWh for an average rainfall year in just four months of operation since generation began in November 2014. The actual performance of the plant continues to closely match the daily theoretical output. At this rate we are comfortably on target to achieve our annual target.
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Handover completed
Now that commissioning is done and principal contractor Spaans Babcock are satisfied that all is working well, handover was completed today. With the river flowing well after the recent rain we are generating up to full power. This morning we had a training session so we understand how the software works and what all the data means so we can monitor performance.
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We are generating from today
Generation proper began today. Now that testing and commissioning have been completed we are now exporting electricity to the national grid. The electrical engineer is gradually increasing to full power. Over the next couple of weeks he will be tweaking the system to get maximum efficiency. We are on schedule and within budget thanks to our principal contractor, Spaans Babcock of Heywood and civil engineering contractor William Pye of Longridge.
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Praise from DECC Minister for Whalley Community Hydro
“The Whalley Community Hydro project is a fantastic example of people coming together to generate and own their own local renewable energy, providing a sustainable income stream for the benefit of the wider community” writes Department of Energy and Climate Change Minister, Amber Rudd. “Thank you for all your efforts and continuing interest in community energy. I look forward to working together in order to achieve our shared objectives of decarbonisation, decentralisation and diversification, and affordable ...
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The screw is turning
The last pile came out today at the inlet to let the water in to turn the screw. Testing to optimise performance will continue this week. Early next week we start getting paid for the electricity going into the national grid. Then there will be further tweaking until hand over by the contractors, Spaans Babcock, to Whalley Community Hydro in mid November.
