Energy

Water power at Upwey Mill

When Sue & Richard Willett moved to Upwey Mill they were entranced by the potential of this Grade 2* listed building to be restored back in to a working mill. But it wasn't until the late 1990s when concern about climate change focussed Mill to generate electricity. As Sue said ‘all that water washing through the Mill was just going to waste'. Literally with their bare hands, they have created a new race and installed a turbine which will generate up to 15kW of electricity an hour to the National Grid.

The existing Mill wheel couldn't be used to make electricity as it wasn't designed to be in constant motion, so they commissioned a new turbine from a small scale producer in Cornwall and set to work creating a race parallel to the existing one. When asked what support they had with the project in addition to SDF, Richard explained ‘a Clear Skies grant paid for the technical back up we needed in huge quantities, but we got a lot of moral support from other small scale micro-hydro schemes such as Gants Mill in Somerset and Town Mill in Lyme Regis.'

Moral support would have been needed when creating the fall to power the turbine. ‘The Big Hole was a bit of a low point for us - we had to dig down deep then line the hole with 40 tonnes of concrete. We did everything ourselves, apart from mix the concrete!'

Richard and Sue have flicked the switch and are now proud owners of a working turbine and are keen to share their experiences with others embarking on micro-hydro projects.

Woodfuel at the Kingcombe Centre

When we met Martin Biss at the Kingcombe Environmental Education Centre, he was busy unwrapping one of the high tech wood fuel boilers ready for installation. In amongst the bubble wrap were two gleaming boilers which, fuelled by wood pellets and chips, will heat the whole education centre and provide hot water too. As Martin, a trustee of the Centre, explained ‘As the 20th anniversary of the Centre approached, we felt we needed to refresh the buildings and set them off on a sustainable future.'

Initial advice came from Dorset AONB's Woodlink Project which aims to stimulate the supply of woodfuel in Dorset by getting small woodlands back into management - benefiting wildlife and creating jobs at the same time. But Martin went on to build up his knowledge with local contractor Phil Upton and together they devised a system combining woodfuel power with solar and using a heat recycling system to get the most out of both. They used local contractors to upgrade the centre and install the heating and water systems, passing on the knowledge and sustaining local jobs.

Indeed, Martin is keen to use the Centre as an exemplar to encourage other people to use woodfuel ‘We are an educational charity and what a great chance this is for people to learn how effective wood can be to heat their homes - and how it can help wildlife and their bank balance too!'

'As the 20th anniversary of the Centre approached, we felt we needed to refresh the buildings and set them off on a sustainable future.'