Hexham River Hydro Project
Frequent Questions and Answers
Please click on each question to get a brief answer
Q. What exactly is it?
Q. What will Hexham River Hydro look like?
Q. Will it detract from the beautiful river setting ?
Q. What about wildlife in and around the river?
Q. What advice have you taken on design?
Q. Is the Project a 'done deal'now?
Q. Which houses will benefit from the electricity generated?
Q. What will the income be used for?
Q. What exactly is it?
A. Hydro electric power schemes produce electricity from rivers and streams. The amount
depends on the rate at which the water is flowing and the fall of the water e.g. over a weir.
The core of a hydro scheme is the turbine which is rotated by this moving water. top
Q. Is this new?
A. No! Many remote communities in the world benefit from hydro electric power schemes, from
the very small to the very large, and they were very common in Britain from the late 1800’s until
mains power took over. Their potential for supplying power to the mains grid is now recognised top
Q. What will Hexham River Hydro look like?
A. It is a ‘run-of-river’ hydro electric power scheme. It does not need a dam to store water
but it does need some water management system. top
Q. Will it detract from the beautiful river setting ?
A. No! Tyne Green Country Park will continue to be well used by local people and visitors alike for
canoeing, rowing, fishing, wildlife and dog walking and a perfect place for families.
Hexham River Hydro will be an addded attraction for local people and visitors and a benefit for local businesses. top
Q. How big is it?
A. Hexham River Hydro is very modest, a 100kW turbine is proposed (100kW is what’s known as the ‘installed capacity’). Our initial feasibility report says up to 680kW would meet Environment Agency guidelines.top
Q. How about the fish - what might happen to them?
A. The outflow from the hydro scheme has been carefully designed with the outflow from the new fish pass that Tyne Rivers Trust are proposing to build. We have been happy to disregard a design that could generate more energy because it was not compatible with the fish pass
top
Q. What about wildlife in and around the river?
A. We will take expert advice to ensure that every step is carefully considered and monitoring firmly in place to ensure minimal disturbance to plants, birds and animals that live in and around the river. top
Q. What advice have you taken on design?
A. We have selected an ‘Archimedes Screw’ turbine because the Environment Agency and the hydro industry all say it is 'fish-friendly'. top
Q. Is the Project a 'done deal'now?
A. By no means!! We are only at initial feasibility stage. We will continue to be mindful of fish and other ecological impacts in designing the scheme and as we move to detailed design we will continue to seek feedback from everyone who is interested, including anglers and all the many interest groups who use the river top
Q. Which houses will benefit from the electricity generated?
A Actually none directly. In many remote communities electricity generated by micro hydro
schemes is used to light individual homes and power specific machinery. The energy we produce
will go straight into the national grid which then provides electricity to houses, businesses etc.
We have calculated that the power generated by Hexham River Hydro will be enough to
meet the electricity needs of 150 homes !! top
Q. What will the income be used for?
A The income will be an important and sustainable funding stream for a wide range of community
projects focused on social and economic regeneration such as Hexham East End Regeneration Project;
Green Energy Fairs; public events such as ‘Spook Night’ and Farmers Markets. We also
plan to do more! top