About the Project
The proposal is to install a micro hydro electric scheme in the Angiddy valley near Tintern, Monmouthshire. A stainless steel intake filter will be installed at the base of the Beaufort Pond dam. This will feed water into a 450mm diameter plastic pipe which will be buried in the ground alongside the Angiddy Brook. The pipe will have a length of 1Km with a vertical drop of 27 Metres over this length. Up to 200 litres water per second will travel down the pipe and pass through a turbine generator situated in a small turbine house. Underground cables will feed the electricity into the National Grid. The water will be returned to the Angiddy Brook.
It is estimated that the scheme could achieve a full extraction of 200 litres / sec for 45% of the year, depleted extraction for 42% of the year and no extraction for 13% of the year, whilst maintaining a sufficient residual flow in the Angiddy Brook. On this basis the scheme will develop 145,000 kWh of electricity per year.
The scheme will achieve an income from selling the generated electricity to the National Grid.
The annual profit realised by the scheme will distributed within the local Tintern Community to support improvement projects, clubs and organisations and sustainable energy projects.
Tintern Angiddy Project Ltd has been registered as a limited "Not for Profit" company to manage the implementation of the Project. It has 4 non paid directors. It has no shareholders and there are no paid employees. Membership of the Company is open to anybody interested in renewable energy. Membership numbers currently stand at 83 (May 2008). Members elect the board at the AGM. The 4 Directors are volunteer residents living in the vicinity of the Angiddy valley. They are:-
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The 4 Directors of TAP Ltd are managing the technical development of the Project, i.e. taking it through the design and approval stages, and securing funding. Additional support is being given by the following professional partners:-
- Keith Jarrett - Electrical Connections Adviser
- Wye Valley AONB
- Severn Wye Energy Agency
- Gwent Association for Voluntary Organisations
- Wales Co-operative Centre
- HydroGeneration
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The scheme will:-
- produce electricity from a fully renewable and sustainable source. i.e.The water in the Angiddy brook;
- inspire similar schemes in other streams and brooks;
- generate a profit of £9000 per year for the benefit of the local Tintern Community;
- practically inform and educate about renewable energy from sustainable sources.
The Project is split into 2 phases for funding purposes.
The first phase is the Pre-Implementation Phase covering the feasibility analysis, environmental and archaeological surveys, permissions and consents. This phase is currently underway and will cost approximately £25000.
TAP is very grateful to the following funders who are supporting the first phase expenditure:
- Monmouthshire County Council through their CEDS fund;
- AONB through their SDF fund;
- Environment Wales;
- Rural Community Action.
The second phase will be the Implementation Phase which will cost approximately £295,000 and will hopefully commence in early 2009.
Funding applications are being prepared for submission to a number of organisations to cover the full amount. Decisions are expected towards the end of 2008.
A committee, made up of representatives of the various clubs and organisations which exist within the Tintern Community, will be set up. TAP Ltd will donate the annual profit to this committee. The committee will be empowered to decide how to spend the money. TAP Ltd will not participate in this process but will fix the guide lines. I.e. Money must be spent within the Tintern Community; Projects should improve local amenities; or support the various clubs, groups and organisations; or support renewable energy projects.
The Project proposal was born out of a community consultation exercise in 2002. The outcome of that consultation identified community owned hydro electricity as the most popular choice of technology within the Wye Valley and that it warranted further investigation. Experts in hydroelectricity installations provided a feasibility study that investigated 4 sites on the Angiddy Brook and a report was also prepared on the various options for community ownership/management of a hydro electricity scheme. These 2 reports were presented to the community in 2004 and the feedback demonstrated overwhelming support for the scheme. Members from the community came together to form Tintern Angiddy Project Ltd. (TAP Ltd) The project has since been progressed in consultancy with installation experts from 2V Microsystems Ltd and HydroGeneration. The result is a scheme that is now more expensive but much more robust financially, generating much more power with significantly increased financial returns.
Norman Williams
11th May 2008