The Mendip Power Group is a group of owners installing micro-hydroelectric turbines in a number of historic former

watermill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in the production of ...

s in the Mendip area of

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

.Mendip Mills Energy Makeover
, '' Centre for Sustainable Energy'', accessed 2007-06-11 The Group is one of several formed after the concept was developed by the

South Somerset Hydropower Group The South Somerset Hydropower Group (SSHG) is a group of 10 owners of former watermills in the South Somerset area of England who are installing micro-hydro turbines for electricity generation. The Group was founded as a result of an initiative b ...

. The first to start

electricity generation Electricity generation is the process of generating electric power from sources of primary energy. For utilities in the electric power industry, it is the stage prior to its delivery ( transmission, distribution, etc.) to end users or its s ...

was Tellisford Mill, on the River Frome, which began operating in April 2007 and which is ultimately expected to produce 75 kW. Other mills in the Group, together with initial assessments of their capacity, include: Stowford Mill (37 kW) and Shawford Mill (31 kW), Jackdaws Iron Works (10 kW), Glencot House (5.8 kW), Burcott Mill (5.2 kW), Bleadney Mill (5.4 kW), Coleford Mill (6.6 kW), Old Mill (5.2 kW) and Farrants Mill (9.9 kW). It has been calculated that harnessing the power from all the streams and rivers in the UK could generate 10,000 GWh per year, enough to supply 3% of national generating capacity.

External links

Tellisford Mill’s 50kW hydro plant lights up the community

References

{{Electricity generation in South West England Community electricity generation in the United Kingdom Electric power companies of the United Kingdom Hydroelectricity in the United Kingdom Mendip District

See also

External links

References