Saturday saw the official opening of the largest Kaplan turbine hydro-scheme in Yorkshire. CO2sense invested £200,000 to secure the progress of the £700,000 scheme which will save 7,700tonnes of CO2 over the next 10 years. The sun shone for those who came to witness Philip Davies, local MP for the Shipley constituency, unveiling the slate plaque mounted on the wall of the power house in which the 329kW turbine harnesses the power from the river Wharfe. The scheme will generate potentially 1.4GWh of electricity per year, or enough to power 310 homes annually.
There was a large queue of people waiting to enter the power house to see the large turbine in action, whirring and generating electricity for the local community. The power house sits on the site of the original old cotton mill, which was utilising the river Wharf’s large power resource back in 1792. Phillip Davies, MP, commented that it brought the heritage of Burley-in –Wharfedale into the present and presented a fantastic opportunity for learning about the milling history of the region. He also stated that we can learn from this historic legacy and embrace age old technologies, utilising them for a cleaner, greener future.
One local resident commented that ‘there had been overwhelming support for the hydro-project within the local village.’ He felt, ‘it made common sense to use the large natural resource available to the community, just as the community had nearly 200 years ago.’
He also commented that the project had rejuvenated the previously derelict original canal that had led to the mill and had previously been overgrown with Himalayan balsam, an invasive weed.
In his opening speech, Bob Middleton the managing director of TLS hydro, who designed and constructed in partner with Derwant Hydro, paid tribute to all those who had helped the project overcome the obstacles over its three year duration. He said how proud he felt of all those who had led to the scheme becoming operational and looked forward to it generating green electricity for the next 70 years. He
He especially thanked CO2sense for their financial and project support. CO2sense will recoup the investment from the Government’s feed-in-tariff, a subsidy awarded for green electricity generation. This money will then be reinvested to support future renewable energy projects in CO2sense’s drive towards securing a low carbon future.