Dartington Cider Press becomes a generator of renewable electricity as it unveils its new hydro-electric turbine at Lower Tweed Mill.

The Dartington Hall Trust will be officially unveiling its new hydro-electric turbine at Lower Tweed Mill at the Cider Press Centre at 9:30am on Wednesday, 10th March 2010.

Vaughan Lindsay, Chief Executive Officer of The Trust and Charlie McConnell, its Director of Sustainability, will be part of the unveiling, along with Lawrence Furneaux, who has operated and maintained the waterwheel for the last 15 years.

Lower Tweed Mill was built in 1932, and the waterwheel attached to the building, driven by a leat from Bidwell Brook, originally powered the mechanical looms which made Dartington tweed.

Production of cloth ceased in the 1950s, and the mechanical system of belts and pulleys was dismantled. However, the waterwheel remained in position and continued to turn freely until restoration work began in March 2008.

“Sustainability is at the heart of Dartington” said Dr. Jon Rae, Sustainability Coordinator at Schumacher College. “Getting the water wheel up and running again is the first of a number of renewable technologies that will help Dartington move to near to zero in carbon emissions by 2015. The wheel is generating 100% green electricity that we can utilise on the Dartington Estate through our own private electricity network.”

“In terms of output, the 1.5kW generator produces around 8–10MWh per annum, enough to meet the electricity demand of three households. During the day, all electricity will be consumed within the building whilst at night when the offices are empty the power is still being generated so we are able to feed it into our own network. We estimate that this will have the effect of reducing our carbon footprint by five tonnes of carbon per annum,” he added.

While the generator part of the job was relatively straightforward, getting the weir and the leat into shape was a lot more complicated.

“By reconnecting the upper and lower parts of the Bidwell Brook, and by ensuring that a minimum flow is always maintained within the stream for fish migration, spawning salmon and sea trout can reach the upper reaches of the River Dart,” said Dr. Rae.

Local hydro engineers, Western Renewable Energy worked closely with experts at the Environment Agency to make sure that these and other habitat issues were satisfactorily resolved.

Charlie McConnell, Director of Sustainability added, “The total cost of this project was £30,000. Dartington is most grateful to Viridor, one of the UK’s leading resource and waste management companies with a strong presence in the South West, for supporting the project with a grant of £5,000.”

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