Freeflow hydro free electric?

bratt9328

Freeflow Hydro are currently offering to supply and install free microhydro turbines in Scotland if you have access to a small stream etc. I am interested in signing up but concerned with just how much I may save after paying the initial £345 site survey fee.
Has anyone here subscribed to this scheme or know anyone who has? If so, I am interested in any feedback, good or bad.
Many thanks
Billy

dunloadin

Just looked on the website, http://www.freeflowhydro.co.uk/5/12/FAQ/Frequently_Asked_Questions.html, sounds too good to be true, and there are more costs involved than the £300 survey. Extra costs could be high, you'd be better off buying a couple of wind tubines from B&Q if they still do them.

Who is subsidising the scheme, Westminster or Hollyrood. I see that this is available in Scotland only, and if Scottish Hydro are fitting the input output meters and connecting to the grid it's only available to us up here in the Hydro DNO. If you do take up the offer make sure to go through the small print, got a feeling they will up sticks and leave you in a mess at the first sign of it going wrong....can picture the segment on a future edition of Watchdog now.

From the Q&A page on the site;

4. Do I need to apply for Planning Permission?
You may require Planning Consent and permission from the land owner (if not you), and we would encourage you to discuss your plans with your local Planning Office at your earliest convenience. Should you require such permission, we will work with you and your Planning Officer to gain that permission for you. There may be charges for this, which are applied by the Planning department, not by Freeflow Hydro

You pay

5. Do I need to talk to SEPA?

Your Planning Office will almost certainly contact SEPA as part of your planning application. They will discuss your installation before deciding on what licences would be required. Should SEPA insist on a specific licence being purchased, Freeflow Hydro will work with you to gain such licenses, which may result in charges being applied by them.

You pay

6. What are the hidden costs?
Planning and SEPA licences are the only costs that are currently uncertain, but to this end, Freeflow Hydro are working to reduce these costs, where applicable, and hope to have these reduced or removed at some later date. We charge a site survey fee of £300 + VAT (£345) in order to ascertain which sites are suitable for one (or more) of our free micro-hydro turbines. Should your site be suitable, our systems will be installed and maintained free of charge.


Added this to be fair, as they admit to hidden costs.


9. How long will the scheme last?

Our scheme will last as long as the Government's financial incentives exist which allow us to make a return on our hardware investment. In reality, we will endeavour to keep this scheme operational for as long as possible, which will benefit all involved.

We all know how fickle politicians can be, looks like they'll walk away from the free maintenance & parts if the government stops subsidising them.

10. What will happen if the scheme comes to an end?

Should the financial aspects of the scheme become uneconomical, we would close it. At that point, each of our clients would be given the option to purchase their micro-hydro turbine for an agreed fee. Should you not wish to do this, we would simply remove the system from your property, at no cost to you.

Uneconomical for them, not you.


11. Can I buy the micro-hydro system?

No, our scheme relies entirely on the revenue generated from the sale of the power produced and exported from our turbines, and as such we have made the decision that we will not become a micro-hydro sales company. Should the scheme come to an end however, we would offer to sell you the micro-turbine installation for an agreed fee.

Any revenue created from selling any extra energy back to the grid is theirs, if you consume more than the turbine can produce you'll still be getting billed.


13. How much electricity will the micro-hydro system generate?

We will install turbines ranging in power from 500W to 10kW. Your water course, and its potential, will be assessed during our survey, and a decision made as to the best turbine for your property. We will endeavour to fit the highest power turbine on your site, since it will give you the highest level of free electricity, while giving us the highest rate of return on our investment.

A 500W generator ain't gonna power your house...couple of lights and a small fridge maybe.

14. What happens if my stream/burn freezes in the Winter?
Should this happen, your micro-hydro turbine may stop operating for a time. We will discuss how often your water course freezes in a typical year during our survey, and will assess the impact this will have on the power generated during these times.

If the turbine stops no free electricity?

16. What happens if my existing electricity supply and fuse box is of poor electrical standard?
We will bring this to your attention during the site survey, and will ask that you have your consumer unit (fuse box) and all associated wiring brought up to current standards before connecting our system to it. We may be able to carry out this work for you, since some of our installers are qualified electricians. We will discuss this, and agree for this work to be carried out if the need arises.

You pay

alun4

We have a small stream at the end of our garden. Flow rate is quite good ... but we are in Wales ! It would be great if a viable system could be installed and generate power at a reasonable cost even for a summer house etc.

dunloadin

I'll admit in principle it's a brilliant idea, but you'd be better off buying a system outright if given the option. As your sleeping or at work the extra electricity being generated will be making you money, and you would eventually get back the cost of the initial investment. Should think it could be a good little earner if you could manage to generate 10Kw 24/7; thats 240 units a day when the average house uses 10-15 units, no wonder they dont want to sell them.

A_fiend_for_life

bratt9328 wrote: »

Freeflow Hydro are currently offering to supply and install free microhydro turbines in Scotland if you have access to a small stream etc. I am interested in signing up but concerned with just how much I may save after paying the initial £345 site survey fee.
Has anyone here subscribed to this scheme or know anyone who has? If so, I am interested in any feedback, good or bad.
Many thanks
Billy

I'd try posting here:

http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/forum114/

Mike_turnbull

I agree with the other comments. There are more micro hydro installers poping up now which will act on your behalf to help get the most out of YOUR hydro potential. They will help with grant applications and get the best from your civil contractors. I have used babyhydro in scotland for feasibility and we will be going ahead with the build once the grant funding is in. Cant wait to see the revenue.....

farmer2

Buyer beware. You are likely to get a very inadequate survey all for the loss of your 345 pounds. A man with a bucket taking a scoop of water out of a river with no stop watch and no way to measure the Head and saying 'this is good enough for 7kws' isn't what you'd expect for the money. I'd say you are unlikely to get a scheme running and I don't know of anyone who has. They have no case studies nor do they have a system set up themselves to demonstrate, at least no one approved by SEPA or wired to produce electricity.
They now seem to have re-invented themselves as FIT for Solar.
Draw your own conclusions.

Budstar

check out TASC.co for a new UK produced Archimedes Screw turbine. details on calculating potential are on the website, and further ones are available on request.

grahamc2003

We will consider a site "viable" if the power output from our turbines will average at least 2kW/hour over the year. This will take into account both dry and wet weather fluctuations.

A word of warning - it looks like they have no engineers who understand energy and power working for them, judging by the amateur nonsense in that sentence (kw/hour is meaningless in this context).

To my mind, streams with a decent head or decent flow which can produce an average of 2kw throughout the year should be exploited, since some electricity would reliably be produced during periods of maximum demand (in contrast to many other renewable technologies, like wind and solar). I just wish those doing the exploiting knew what they were talking about.

HappyMJ

dunloadin wrote: »

A 500W generator ain't gonna power your house...couple of lights and a small fridge maybe.

I know this is an old thread but as a matter of interest what sort of flow rate would generate 500W of electricity. 500W does power my house. Not the high usage stuff such as the immersion or the electric radiator or shower but it easily covers all the base usage of the fridge, lights, computers, phone chargers, tv and freeview even with some left over.