Tag Archives: Community

Case Study, Hydropower

Taff Bargoed 100 kW Hydropower Scheme

System type: Crossflow Turbine Power output: 100 kW
Developer: Friends of Taff Bargoed Park Design Conditions: H = 23.0m
Q = 0.60 m3/s
Location: Taff Bargoed, Treharris, Wales Expected Generation: 480 MWh p.a.

Community Organisation, “Friends of Taff Bargoed Park” were awarded funding to develop legal and technical plans for a hydropower scheme on the Taff Bargoed River, Treharris. The income generated by the scheme through the Feed-in Tariff will be used for the upkeep and improvement of facilities at Taff Bargoed Park. Hydromatch Consulting provided the detailed technical design and made license applications. Construction is almost ready to begin.

The services we have so far provided:

  1. Flow measurements to validate modelling
  2. Topographical survey
  3. Detailed design
  4. Permissions and license applications
    • Abstraction license
    • Impoundment license
    • Flood defence consent
    • Fish pass approval
    • Grid connection application
    • Planning permission
    • OFGEM pre-accreditation
  5. Ground investigations
  6. Detailed construction drawings
  7. Tender specification
  8. CDM preparation

If you have a similar project in mind, get in touch for an informal discussion about how we can assist with implementation.

Case Study, Hydropower

Cwm Clydach

Hydromatch Consulting Case Study 8 Site Name: Cwm Clydach
System type: Pelton Turbine Power output: 55 kW
Manufacturer: Tepersac Typical Generation: 250 MWh p.a.
Client: Cwmclydach Communities First Design Conditions: H = 85.00 m
Q = 0.1 m3/s
Location: Clydach Vale, Clydach, Wales Commissioned: April 2011


Intake Clydach

Project description:

Cwm Clydach Communities First commissioned this project in a country park, developed on the site of a former colliery. Two lakes were created as amenity features during the landscaping of the park in the 1970’s.

The intake to the hydro scheme has been formed at the outflow of the upper lake and the water returned after passing through a Pelton turbine into the lower lake providing a pressure head of approximately 85 metres. The penstock pipe is about 1 mile long and buried under an existing footpath. The ‘coanda’ screen at the intake has been protected with a concrete cover to deter potential vandals. The electricity generated is exported directly to the national grid.

The project has been well received by the local community who have taken a keen interest particularly during the construction phase. Income from the scheme is being used to support further community initiatives. A further larger scheme is planned by Cwm Clydach Communities First lower down the valley which will make use of the fall available across an 800 metre length culvert and more abundant flow rates.

Case Study, Hydropower

Thima

Pico Energy Ltd Case Study 2 Site Name: Thima
System type: Pump as Turbine Power output: 2.2 kW
Manufacturer: Kirloskar Typical Generation: 19 MWh p.a.
Client: Thima CEA Design Conditions: H = 20.00 m
Q = 0.28 m3/s
Location: Kerugoya, Kenya Commissioned: January 2002
Penstock installation Kenya
Project description:

This scheme was installed as part of a program implemented by The Micro Hydro Centre at Nottingham Trent University to demonstrate Pico Hydro technology in Sub Saharan Africa. The project was financed by the beneficiaries with some additional help from external organisations. The small generator is driven by a pump working in reverse as a turbine. It produces a constant 2.2 kW of AC electricity which provides a reliable electricity service to more than 110 households. This project won the Ashden Award’s ‘Overseas Project for Light’ in 2004.

The scheme is owned and managed by the beneficiaries. The community elected a committee to manage the collection of funds and to mobilise labour for installation. The same committee now manages the scheme operation and repairs, and tariff collection.

There are approximately 160 houses within the vicinity of the generator, the furthest of which is 900 metres from the turbine house. The locations of the houses were mapped with a GPS unit which saved considerable time as no accurate maps of the area existed. The shortest route to connect all of the houses to the generator was then worked out to ensure that all the consumers were connected. This helped to keep the connection costs for the consumers as low as possible. Insulated cables were used for all elements of the distribution system to maximise safety. Only small diameter cables were required as each house draws a small current. In addition to electrical insulation particular care was taken with regard to load management, lighting protection and earth fault protection to maximise consumer safety.

Case Study, Hydropower

Kathamba

Pico Energy Ltd Case Study 1 Site Name: Kathamba
System type: Pelton Turbine Power output: 1.2 kW
Manufacturer: NTU design / Local
manufacturer		 Typical Generation: 10.5 MWh p.a.
Client: Kathamba CEA Design Conditions: H = 28.00 m
Q = 0.08 m3/s
Location: Kerugoya, Kenya Commissioned: November 2001

 Project description:

This scheme was installed as part of a program implemented by The Micro Hydro Centre at Nottingham Trent University to demonstrate Pico Hydro technology in Sub Saharan Africa. The cost of the penstock, turbine and generator equipment was met by the project funders (European Commission) and all other costs were contributed by the 65 households which the scheme now supplies with electricity.

The scheme makes use of a very small stream on farm land in a region of Kenya to demonstrate that very useful amounts of power can be reliably generated from small resources. Capital and installation costs were minimised by training local workshops how to manufacture the turbine units and work being undertaken to install the scheme by the local community who are also the beneficiaries.

An off-grid control system maintains the voltage and frequency of the system so that sensitive mains loads such as CFL lighting can be connected. All of the loads are carefully managed through load limiting circuits which prevent the generator from becoming overloaded and enable the power to be distributed in small current packages over a 600 metre radius. In this way, it has been possible to connect 60 houses to the 1.2 kW generator. In addition to lighting, radios, small TVs and a variety of battery powered products such as mobile phones and power tools are popular loads which can be connected.