Ripple Energy wind farm?

Coastalwatch

Reed_Richards said:

Coastalwatch said:

Unfortunately we don't have a stream or river flowing through our plot, although we are but 500metres from the sea, so it's rather frustrating with such a huge source of energy so close there isn't yet an opportunity to hook up to but a small share of it.

I do have a stream on the edge of my garden but I don't believe the flow rate would be anywhere near enough to generate a significant amount of power.   

Ah! Flow rate, not what it used to be here, I have to confess!

70sbudgie

Imho, diversity is the answer. This is as true with electricity generation as life. We have solar pv, but that hasn't stopped me investing in wind. It isn't very often in the uk that you get sunny and windy days, so they have a tendency to mostly balance. If you are then willing and able to amend your usage habits to match times of high renewable generation, a significant impact can be made. Modern, comfortable off-grid is increasingly becoming a "thing".

If you are interested in electricity generation data, I follow the website gridwatch.co.uk It uses the same source data on generation, published by National Grid, as carbonintensity.org.uk

I have started thinking recently about the potential impact of small scale hydro. There aren't many opportunities in the UK for more large scale, because of geography. I wondered what impact could be made be refurbishing and converting the many water wheel mills that there are across the UK. I haven't done the research yet, though to have any numbers to crunch.

Coastalwatch

That would be quite an undertaking and great to research too. I guess sufficient flow rate for the majority of time has to be a start point. I wish you good luck upon it. Great for those inland but for those of us by the sea I can't help thinking that energy from tidalwaters must be significantly greater if only it could be harnessed at economic cost.

Exiled_Tyke

Coastalwatch said:

That would be quite an undertaking and great to research too. I guess sufficient flow rate for the majority of time has to be a start point. I wish you good luck upon it. Great for those inland but for those of us by the sea I can't help thinking that energy from tidalwaters must be significantly greater if only it could be harnessed at economic cost.

Well it's getting there. And Simec Atlantis' Meygen project appears to be getting back on track. 

Coastalwatch

Hi ET thanks for enlightening us on that matter, I noticed Simac's share price had lifted marginally off of the floor recently but other than the government's announcement of some funding for tidal energy I've no other knowledge of what might be happening. Be pleased to learn of any news you are able to share! 

QrizB

70sbudgie said:

I wondered what impact could be made be refurbishing and converting the many water wheel mills that there are across the UK. I haven't done the research yet, though to have any numbers to crunch.

Water mill wheels are typically in the low-single-digit horsepower. Let's be optimistic and say 5kW each.

Let's assume there was one water mill for each 1000 people (so one for each large village). The 1801 Census gave a pre-industrial population of 10.5 million.

10,500 mills at 5kW each makes 52.5MW, a bit less than three Kirk Hills.

70sbudgie

QrizB said:

70sbudgie said:

I wondered what impact could be made be refurbishing and converting the many water wheel mills that there are across the UK. I haven't done the research yet, though to have any numbers to crunch.

Water mill wheels are typically in the low-single-digit horsepower. Let's be optimistic and say 5kW each.

Let's assume there was one water mill for each 1000 people (so one for each large village). The 1801 Census gave a pre-industrial population of 10.5 million.

10,500 mills at 5kW each makes 52.5MW, a bit less than three Kirk Hills.

But presumably only a very small percentage of those waterwheels still exist in a state that could be converted, either using the original wheel and building, or the pool / diverted water flow.

I was surpised to find a lot of sales info when I searched micro hydro (<10kW) and there's even something called nano hydro (<5kW). I don't know how that relates to flow yet.

I know that it isn't really measured, but remember that domestic PV would be considered nano by this logic and there is plenty of that. I would expect hydro to be a more continuous supply on a daily basis, even if there is seasonal variation. And if the seasonal variation means more in the winter, it would be very compatible with existing renewable generation.

QrizB

70sbudgie said:

QrizB said:

70sbudgie said:

I wondered what impact could be made be refurbishing and converting the many water wheel mills that there are across the UK. I haven't done the research yet, though to have any numbers to crunch.

Water mill wheels are typically in the low-single-digit horsepower. Let's be optimistic and say 5kW each.

Let's assume there was one water mill for each 1000 people (so one for each large village). The 1801 Census gave a pre-industrial population of 10.5 million.

10,500 mills at 5kW each makes 52.5MW, a bit less than three Kirk Hills.

But presumably only a very small percentage of those waterwheels still exist in a state that could be converted, either using the original wheel and building, or the pool / diverted water flow.

Iwas trying to give an upper-end estimate. The question was "I wondered what impact could be made be refurbishing and converting the many water wheel mills that there are across the UK" and the answer looks to be "not much impact at all".

52.5MW is less than 0.2% of UK electricity demand.

I was surpised to find a lot of sales info when I searched micro hydro (<10kW) and there's even something called nano hydro (<5kW). I don't know how that relates to flow yet.

If you're off-grid (or in a region where there is no grid), micro hydro can make sense even if it's expensive. In the UK, not so much; it's a niche solution for a tiny propirtion of homes.

I know that it isn't really measured, but remember that domestic PV would be considered nano by this logic and there is plenty of that. I would expect hydro to be a more continuous supply on a daily basis, even if there is seasonal variation. And if the seasonal variation means more in the winter, it would be very compatible with existing renewable generation.

Many more houses and business premises are suitable for PV than for micro hydro. Current figures (link) show there are more than a million UK solar PV installations of 4kWp or less. Thats ~100x more than my notional number of old water mill wheels.

Micro solar (those 4kWp systems) totals almost 3GW, nominally enough to meet 10% of UK demand.

QrizB

Ripple WT1 people, I understand you should have received your first payments? Only part of a month, I hear, but still a few quid off your next bill? How many pence per watt of turbine, if you don't mind me asking?

(The WT1 dashboard isn't visible to WT2 members which seems a missed opportunity )

paul991

looking over 10 per cent