In message <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, Ron Jones <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes >Martin Phillips wrote: >> In message <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, Ron Jones >> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes >>> >>> You really need a *deep* drop to get enough speed into the water >>> flow to turn the turbines - I doubt if G.Brook is enough. >> >> Not really true - there's a bloke down the road from us getting about >> 20 kW from a fairly small stream with much less head than Grindley >> Brook. You just need the right sort of turbine. Guessing the triple >> locks as 7 m and 11 million gallons / day gives around 40 kW. >> Definitely worth doing if the capital cost is low enough. BW aren't >> good at that however! Normal people would be looking at around £4k / >> kW installed capacity (Energy Saving Trust data) which would give a >> very short payback. > >Ah, but does that include the equipment needed to synconize the turbine to >the national grid? Otherwise you will not be able to sell the power, and >only be able to use it locally.
No idea, but as a proportion of ~£4k / kW it won't be an overwhelming amount, especially if the generation is DC. >Besides which (in summer) there's not a lot >of spare water - far too many boats using the locks (that doesn't matter for >the water collection at Hurleston). I'd be surprised if it makes a huge difference, but you get more cash for the power in the winter anyway. The boat movements can only be a major factor for three or four months of the year. > I *just* got over the cill in the >staircase 2 weeks ago We clouted the cill between the bottom and middle locks very hard in both directions last time through. I think it's a bit close to the top, but our skeg does draw over 75 cm. The first time was a disaster, it tipped over a rather nice glass of wine. Wassail! -- Martin E Phillips http://www.g4cio.demon.co.uk Homebrewing, black pudding, boats, morris dancing, ham radio and more! The Gloucester-Sharpness canal web page http://www.glos-sharpness.org.uk
