About this group
Hexham River Hydro Wins National Support !!
We did it!! After a six month campaign and a nail biting last few days we came first competing with more than 600 other communities in the energyshare launch fund vote, securing £100,000 funding and access to professional advice for our community project. Against strong competition from some fantastic projects, Hexham River Hydro took over 30% of the vote nationally.
January/February 2012 Following our success in the energyshare bid we are currently seeking tender proposals for from suitably qualified and experienced contractors for the detailed design (including all relevant environmental work), planning and licensing for a 100kW low head hydro-electric scheme at Hexham Bridge, Hexham, Northumberland. We anticipate that the contract will be let by the end of March 2012.
About us
Hexham River Hydro is a 100kW community hydro power generation scheme on the River Tyne in Northumberland, which will not just generate renewable electricity but will secure sustainable funding for social and economic regeneration and community activities in Hexham and its environs and be an education and awareness-raising tool for residents and visitors alike. It is a joint initiative by Hexham Community Partnership and Transition Tynedale.
Click here to watch our video
Photo: Helen Smith
Why do we need energyshare money?
The next stages of development – detailed design, environmental impact work, obtaining permission from the planning authorities and the Environment Agency, and of course construction itself – wouldn't now be underway without having secured the energyshare funding.
Will our project work?
Yes. The initial feasibility study carried out earlier this year by Inter Hydro Technology of Kendal, Cunbria indicates that the scheme could generate approximately 700MWh renewable electricity per year, representing CO2 savings of approximately 400 tonnes per year. Inter Hydro Technology proposed two alternative design concepts which we are now considering. Click here for a summary of their report.
Commissioning a hydro power generator will be expensive – in our case well over £800,000. We can’t borrow all of this from the banks, so start-up grant money will be essential. We’ve already paid for an initial feasibility study out of our own funds. We’ve also received a cash grant from the renewable energy company Vattenfall, as well as valuable legal and financial advice from Carbon Leapfrog.
Do we have local support?
Yes. The initiators of this project – Hexham Community Partnership and Transition Tynedale – represent over a dozen major community groups within the town, with over 350 members. Hexham Town Council have pledged their full support. We have support from Hexham MP Guy Opperman, North-East MEP Fiona Hall and Northumberland County Councillors. We’re also working closely with local groups and community interests to make sure that all views are taken into account in the development.
People voted for us?
From the many messages we received, it is clear that people voted for us because this is a hydro scheme of national significance that will bring enormous social and economic benefits to our local community, centred on the small market town of Hexham
Hexham River Hydro will bring:
- Enivronmental benefits
- Social and economic regeneration in our community
- Significant raising the profile of renewable energy generation and
and will support other green energy projects locally, regionally and nationally.
And it’s exciting!
Ø Environmental benefits
- We will generate approximately 700MWh of electricity per year – enough to satisfy the average electricity consumption of 150 households and reduce Hexham’s carbon emissions by approximately 400 tonnes CO2 per year
- We will deliver these benefits for 40+ years (we plan to maintain the scheme forever!)
- Hydro power is the least intrusive renewable energy development for our local landscape
Ø Social and economic regeneration in our community
The income from the scheme will be used to continue and expand the social and economic regeneration and community work of Hexham Community Partnership.
- Hexham East Regeneration Project (currently supporting approximately 1,600 residents in 650 households), which works in one of the more deprived part of the town
- Programme of social and economic regeneration events - markets, arts and other public events - designed to encourage residents to value and use their local facilities and to attract visitors from outside the area
- Our community cinema (which Hexham Community Partnership saved for public use when the previous owners went into administration)
Ø Significantly raising the profile of renewable energy generation
- As the first community hydro project in our region Hexham River Hydro will be a showcase educational resource for teaching local school children, other residents, businesses and visitors about hydro electricity generation and electricity consumption behaviour
- Many people will be able to visit the scheme, which will be sited in a park that is widely used, near the town centre of Hexham and a few hundred metres’ walk from Hexham train station
- We will issue community shares to enable a large number of people to play a direct part in the project.
Ø Nationally significant hydro scheme
- We believe that Hexham River Hydro will be a nationally significant hydro-electric power scheme, for a number of reasons related to the nature of the site and the River Tyne
- The knowledge we create from this scheme’s design and operation will enhance development of hydro schemes elsewhere in the UK
- Our team is committed to sharing this knowledge to help others
Ø Supporting other green energy projects
- The federation of West Northumberland Development Trusts has established a working group keen to exploit opportunities for community hydro power development throughout this area and sees Hexham River Hydro as providing the lead
- Our team members have already presented to other local groups and will continue to share learnings and encourage other schemes to be set up
- The income and impetus from this scheme will enable us to deliver other green energy projects locally, such as our electricity monitor work
Ø Ability to deliver the scheme and its benefits
- Our core team of 10 people has already put in >3,000 skilled volunteer hours and we are ready to volunteer all the remaining hours needed to make this project happen (we need energyshare funding to engage the external contractors who are vital if we are to proceed)
- Hexham Community Partnership and Transition Tynedale have already successfully delivered many projects in our community
- We have wide support from key local partners, including Hexham Town Council, and are working with and taking advice from Northumberland County Council
- Our initial stakeholder consultation with >30 local organisations has identified no unexpected barriers
- We have support from other significant players in this field e.g. we are one of the portfolio projects of Carbon Leapfrog
... And it’s exciting!
Hexham River Hydro is a really exciting project – harnessing the power of one of the greatest rivers in the country to produce renewable energy. One of the first hydroelectric power installations in the world was built in Northumberland, to light Cragside House near Rothbury, in 1878. We’d like to put Northumberland back on the map again!
More about us
Hexham Community Partnership is a development trust established in 1998 to support the physical, social and economic regeneration of the town. We undertake a wide range of community activities in the Hexham area, including:
- managing the Hexham East Regeneration Project, which offers residents a wide range of services including housing and employment advice, a credit union and an electricity monitor library;
- operating a full time community cinema as a social enterprise;
- organizing a programme of public events in the town, engaging the whole community and supporting the local economy.
As government, local authority and grant funding become harder to come by, we need new and sustainable sources of income to fund our activities and allow us to expand our range of services. Renewable power generation is an ideal source of such funding, as it can provide reliable long-term income and enables us to promote local sustainable development.
Transition Tynedale is part of the national Transition Towns network. Our aims are to raise awareness of peak oil and climate change and to encourage and support individuals and communities to respond to these twin challenges with inspiration, creativity and an awareness that a lifestyle based on using less fossil fuel can actually be better, more fulfilling and more resilient.
Transition Tynedale has been delivering projects in Hexham and the surrounding area since 2008. Our projects to date have included: two Green Energy Fairs; three Electricity Monitor Libraries in the Tyne Valley; a ‘Rubbish Event’ (making art from rubbish); a Transition Tynedale film; two community gardens; a community orchard; apple pressing at Hexham Farmer’s Market every autumn; and more than twenty events raising awareness about peak oil and climate change.
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