Eco Evolution Blog

Eco Evolution appointed agents in Ireland for Mann Power Consulting Ltd., the Archimedean Screw hydro turbine specialists in the UK. Mann Power are the sole UK authorised dealer for the Rehart range of Archimedean Screws manufactured in Germany.

A £1MILLION green scheme to turn Totnes Weir into a mini power station will be the biggest hydro-electric project of its kind in Europe.

The scheme — which could be in action powering up King Edward VI Community College by the beginning of 2012 — involves installing a four metre diameter Archimedean screw turbine to fill the 20-metre long sluice at one end of the centuries old town weir.

There are already 15 similar water-powered turbines operating in the UK and another 100 across Europe.

But the Totnes turbine’s size and its 200 kilowatt output would make it the biggest in Europe so far, revealed Dave Mann, the boss of Yorkshire company Mannpower.

 It would harness the power of the 13 tonnes a second of water that pours over the weir which would then be used to provide electricity for the classrooms of more than 1,800 pupils at what is one of the largest schools in Devon.

“We have calculated that it will produce as much power as the school uses,” Mr Mann explained as he outlined the project at a public meeting at the college.

A similar, but slightly smaller screw, was installed at the River Dart Country Park by Mr Mann’s company and has been powering the park successfully for the past three years.

A consortium of local investors, called the Dart Renewable Partnership, has already bought the weir from one-time Autotrader boss Malcolm Barrett for £75,000.

The deal included land next to the weir where there are proposals to build a small classroom complex which would be used as part of a KEVICC educational project involving power generation and the river environment.

Mr Mann aims to submit a planning application for the project next month and begin construction in July next year and the turbine could be producing power for the school and the national grid by early 2012.

Mannpower has already held talks with fishing organisations, owners of waterside properties, the Environment Agency and KEVICC.

Around 20 members of the public, local councillors and representatives of interested group were at a public exhibition outlining the project at KEVICC’s Ariel Centre.

The scheme also involves building a fish ladder up the weir for salmon and trout which spawn in the upper reaches of the Dart — and installing underwater cameras and fish counters to monitor the fish population.

Fish expert Peter Kibel explained that the current fish ladder was too long and too difficult for smaller fish, leaving them easy prey for seals which swim up river to take advantage of salmon and trout trapped in the weir.

It is also planned to remove the diagonal concrete ledge across the weir built as another aid for fish.

That will stop the force of the water being directed to one side of the river which has eroded the bank by 20ft in the past two decades.

This will allow water to pour over the weir in a more direct route and eventually wash away the mud island downstream at low tide.

Source:  http://www.mannpower-hydro.co.uk/news.php

Proposals to reintroduce domestic water charges, with new water meters being installed in every home in the State, are to be brought to Government in about two weeks.

The proposals – which were approved in principle as part of the Budget – will be brought forward by Minister for the Environment John Gormley.

However the Minister admitted today it is unlikely that water metering will be in place by June 2012 – which means domestic water charges will not be reintroduced before the next general election.

Mr Gormley acknowledged taht the insisting the charges would be politically unpopular but insisted they were necessary. “I think everybody who understands the environment … they know that this is an absolute necessity,” he said. “You just can’t go putting your head in the sand on these issues any longer. Water is a precious resource.

“All the evidence shows that when you actually charge for water people conserve it, people use it wisely.”

He would not be drawn on how much each of Ireland’s 1.1 million households would be charged but said a speculated figure of €400 per household was wide of the mark. He pointed to other EU countries as a possible indicator.

Mr Gormley revealed his plans as part of his announcement of a “reprioritising” of the €1.8 billion Water Services Investment Programme for the next three years.

The reprioritised programme will now give priority to projects which target environmental compliance issues, in a bid to avoid the imposition of fines by the European Commission, and achieve sustainable supplies.

The Minister stressed Ireland had not yet been fined by the EU for its confirmed breaches of the Water Framework Directive, a feature he said was as a result of the Government’s openness to take whatever remedial steps were necessary.

The programme will also target repairs to the water networks to eliminate waste and protect water basins. It is estimated that “lost” water ranges from 16 per cent to 58 per cent of supplies across the State. The programme provides €320 million over the three year period for remedial works.

A much greater emphasis on water conservation through the introduction of water metering and inducements for householders to cut down on usage, also forms a significant part of the new programme.

Mr Gormley told a press conference today he did not believe it made sense, from an economic or environmental perspective, “to invest in expanding water treatment capacity if there is a significant loss of treated water in damaged or aging networks”.

Mr Gormley said in January the Government intends to raise as much as €1 billion per annum from water metering charges when they are introduced.

Labour today welcomed the investment programme but said it was overdue. The party’s environment spokeswoman Joanna Tuffy said the Government’s approach to investment in water needs to change. “There needs to be a national water strategy rather than the piecemeal approach of the past,” she said.

“The priority of State investment has to reduce the amount of public treated water that is lost through leaks. The other priority has to be bringing waste water treatment facilities up to standard to ensure safe drinking water.

“It raises the question as to how, when the Government was spending up to €500 million per year on water infrastructure projects, our distribution was allowed to fall into such a state of disrepair,” Ms Tuffy said.

Source: http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2010/0419/breaking42.html

• Hydro electricity — Hydro electric generation — even on a small scale — can be a more cost-effective and, more importantly, predictable and consistent method of generating electricity on both a micro and commercial scale. If you are lucky enough to have a decent size stream running through your farm, it may certainly be worth looking at.

Co Wexford-based Eco Evolution (www.EcoEvolution.ie) is the agent in Ireland for the Rehart range of Archimedean Screw hydro turbines supplied by Mann Power Consulting Ltd, the Archimedean Screw hydro turbine specialists in the UK, although manufactured in Germany. Mann Power is the sole authorised dealer for the Rehart range of Archimedean Screw Hydro turbines.

Frank Gethings is the MD of the Ferns-based company, which specialises in the micro-generation technologies of wind turbines, Rehart hydro turbines and solar PV systems. It also supplies and installs solar thermal systems, air-to-water heat pumps and mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR) systems.

The Archimedean Screw is old technology used as water pumps to lift water from one level to another. Rehart manufactures two types of the Archimedean Screw, one for pumping water — as originally designed — and the other to generate electricity using the flow of water in the reverse direction, downwards to turn the screw and generate power.

Mr Gethings says: “The requirements for driving the screw are quite low, with a minimum head requirement of just 1m, up to a maximum of 10m. There is a minimum flow requirement of 100 litres/sec, which is the equivalent of a sizeable stream.”

These are said to have many advantages over the more traditional types of hydro turbines; the most important of these probably being the fact that they are fish friendly. Also, leaves and debris simply pass through the turbine with no fine screening required.

“They are also highly efficient across a large flow variation, with a hydraulic efficiency of 87pc and a water-to-wire efficiency of 77pc. They are suitable for small, domestic applications from 1kW up to larger commercial applications of 350kW.

“With each application we would have to do a feasibility study on each site and then the Archimedean hydro-electric plant would be custom-made to suit the site.” Small plants would generate as little as 1kW, while bigger plants could generate up to 350kW handling a water flow of up to 10,000 litres/sec.

“Old mills are ideal sites as the civil works are already in place and there is the potential to generate up to 15kW or so, depending on what’s there.”

Planning permission would be required for such an installation, and in the UK they have gone through all the processes to establish it as a fish-friendly design. Being site specific, it could be hard to estimate the price of installing such a facility, but MannPower Consulting has produced a chart in an effort to do just that.

SOURCE: http://www.independent.ie/farming/the–power–to–choose-1959329.html

“… It is a point echoed across the industry. ”The general trend for energy costs will be an upward one and there is also the advent of carbon taxes to consider,” says Frank Gethings, Managing Director of Eco Evolution in Ferns, Co. Wexford. His company offers a wide range of renewable solutions, with wind electricity generating equipment to the fore and a new line in hydro electricity products just becoming available. Gone are the days when these technologies were the preserve of immense ESB projects: They can now be incorporated seamlessly into many business premises.

“Water has been used for energy generation for centuries, but Archimedean screw hydro turbines are relatively new to the market – they’re a 21^st century application of an ancient technology,” says Gethings. “They are suitable for small domestic applications from 1kW up to larger applications of 350kW.” Both wind and hydro power work on simple principles: the rotor is turned by wind or water; a generator attached to the rotor then generates power that can be fed into the building’s power supply. Another renewable energy solution is solar power; a technology that has been around for years yet is only coming into affordable, mainstream usage now – particularly helping to reduce heating costs…”

Ferns company sees green opportunity

A FERNS-BASED company has become the first company in the country to commercialise a range of hydro-turbines to produce electricity from water flow.

Eco Evolution has been appointed the main agents in Ireland for Mann Power Consulting Ltd., who are leading specialists in the area.

Mann Power is the sole UK authorised dealer for the Rehart range of Archimedean screw hydro turbines that are manufactured in Germany.

Rehart are leaders in the field of mechanical engineering in Germany with a 25-year history of excellence. This sustainable technology will allow Irish home and business owners to produce energy in a more eco-friendly way.

“We are absolutely delighted to be working with Mann Power and we are looking forward to a very exciting future together,” says Frank Gethings, managing director of Eco Evolution.

“While water has been used for energy generation for centuries, Archimedean screw hydro turbines are relatively new to the market, a 21st century application of an ancient technology,” explains Mr. Gethings.

Archimedean screws were traditionally used as water pumps to lift water from one level to another.

Archimedean screw hydro turbines work in reverse, water from a river or stream flows down the screw causing it to rotate, the screw is coupled to a generator via a gearbox and hence power is generated.

The Archimedean screw is suited to low head sites and can cater for heads of between one metre and ten metres in height and can take flow rates ranging from 100 litres per second to 10,000 litres per second. For larger flows two or more screws can be used.

“They have many advantages over the more traditional types of hydro turbines; the most important of these probably being the fact that they are fish friendly, also leaves and debris simply pass through the turbine with no fine screening required.

They are also highly efficient across a large flow variation, with a hydraulic efficiency of 87 per cent and a ‘water to wire’ efficiency of 77 per cent. They are suitable for small domestic applications from 1kW up to larger commercial applications of 350kW.”

Eco Evolution specialises in consultancy and design, supply and installation of renewable energy technologies, not only hydro electricity generation but also Wind Turbines, Solar Thermal, Solar Photovoltaic, Heat Pumps and Heat Recovery Ventilation.

Frank Gethings is originally from Ferns and studied Electronic Engineering at Dublin City University from 1985 to 1989.

After working as an engineer for 17 years, he was made redundant in 2006, giving him the opportunity to set up his own business.

“I had an interest in renewable energy since my early school days and it seemed like it was an industry with a bright future, it was also well suited to my experience and engineering background.”

After two years of intensive research, training and cherrypicking products, Eco Evolution started trading in September 2008. The company is codirected by Frank and his wife, Mary.

“At the moment we have a few exciting prospects in the pipe line.

Our products are mainly top end of the market, they were chosen because our research showed that they were the best quality and best performing products on the market, but they are not necessarily the most expensive.

“We are fully committed to providing energysaving solutions to Irish customers by offering the very latest and most technologically advanced renewable energy products on the market today.”

Articles:  http://www.wexfordecho.ie/news/story/?trs=mhmhidcwid&cat=news , http://www.enniscorthyecho.ie/news/story/?trs=mhmhidcwid&cat=news , http://www.goreyecho.ie/news/story/?trs=mhmhidcwid&cat=news