Clean, green hydropower at Gara Bridge, Devon

The Archimedean Screw hydropower turbine is a new application of an ancient technology. For thousands of years the screw was used to pump water up from rivers or streams to irrigate farm land. Now, using the same system in reverse the Archimedean Screw is being used to harness the power of the water to generate hydroelectricity. This technology lets you harness the power of the water that flows over or through your land. Once it has been hooked-up your turbine will generate hydro-electric power 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Whether the power is for your own property, to sell back to the grid or a combination of both, the Archimedean Screw will likely pay for itself several times over in the course of its operational lifetime. And what’s more these turbines can be scaled to suit all needs – from small domestic applications like the Gara Bridge scheme or to huge industrial installations like the hydropower project at Shane’s Castle. The hydro project at Shane’s Castle was the first of its kind in Northern Ireland and rated at 214 kilowatts it is the largest single Archimedean Screw generator ever manufactured.

The hydropower scheme at Gara Bridge was developed to provide a renewable source of power to a private dwelling with any excess sold to the National Grid. The maximum output of this particular project is 15kW. The enclosed compact design which is suitable for smaller hydropower projects was the preferred design of screw for this particular site and the design also helped to minimise the installation cost.

Closed Compact –  Key Benefits:

• Screw + trough + gearbox + generator are all assembled into a single unit at the factory.
• Civil works on site reduced to a minimum.
• Installation time considerably reduced (approx 3-4 hours)

Archimedean Screw turbines offer a uniquely flexible hydropower solution that can be installed at sites with a broad range of topographical features. But there are some fundamental requirements your land will need if a project can go ahead. If you’re not sure whether your site is suitable for an Archimedean Screw we’ve put together a checklist of requirements for your reference.

Naturally we will conduct a detailed feasibility study on your behalf but there are a few key features whose presence will determine the location’s viability for a Screw.

The basic requirements to host a screw are:

• A water source with a drop of at least 1.5 metres
• Access rights to that water source
• A grid hook-up point less than 500 metres from the water source – unless the Screw is being used for ‘off grid’ generation only.

If your site satisfies these criteria then there’s every chance you will be able to harness the power of the waterway to generate hydroelectricity.

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