Developer npower renewables has applied for approval to redesign the 200-kW Romney Weir hydropower project planned for Queen Elizabeth's 900-year-old Windsor Castle.
Npower submitted an application in May to the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead Planning Authority of England to replace four proposed low-head submerged propeller turbines with two hydrodynamic screw turbines utilizing the design of ancient Greek mathematician and inventor Archimedes.
Although npower did not state an installed capacity for the modified project, it said the Archimedes screw turbines would be capable of generating 1.4 gigawatt-hours annually, more electricity than the original design.
The developer received permission from the authority in 2005 to build a 1 million pound (US$1.7 million) project with four conventional turbines installed in two of the ten bays of the existing Thames River weir to generate 1.3 GWh annually. Power would be delivered to the castle by underground cables and not pass through the national grid.
The scheme is to be developed and built by npower in association with Southeast Power Engineering. Construction and commissioning are expected in 2009.
Npower advances 4-MW Siadar Wave plant
In another initiative promoting innovative technology, npower renewables submitted a planning application in April for the 4-MW Siadar Wave Energy Project (SWEP) on Lewis Island in the Hebrides Islands of Scotland.
SWEP is a collaboration between npower and wave power developer Wavegen. (HNN 8/8/06) Npower said it would be the first project to operate under the Scottish government's Marine Supply Obligation, established to promote the development of marine energy projects. (HNN 2/22/07)
The project, in Siadar Bay, would use technology based on Wavegen's 500-kW Limpet (Land Installed Marine Powered Energy Transformer) plant on the island of Islay. Operating since 2000, Limpet uses oscillating water column technology and is the only grid-connected OWC plant operating under commercial conditions.
If the Scottish government approves the plans, construction could begin as early as 2009. SWEP is to be installed in a new breakwater, which would house the Wavegen turbines and provide a shelter and harbor facility for small craft.
Npower submitted an application in May to the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead Planning Authority of England to replace four proposed low-head submerged propeller turbines with two hydrodynamic screw turbines utilizing the design of ancient Greek mathematician and inventor Archimedes.
Although npower did not state an installed capacity for the modified project, it said the Archimedes screw turbines would be capable of generating 1.4 gigawatt-hours annually, more electricity than the original design.
The developer received permission from the authority in 2005 to build a 1 million pound (US$1.7 million) project with four conventional turbines installed in two of the ten bays of the existing Thames River weir to generate 1.3 GWh annually. Power would be delivered to the castle by underground cables and not pass through the national grid.
The scheme is to be developed and built by npower in association with Southeast Power Engineering. Construction and commissioning are expected in 2009.
Npower advances 4-MW Siadar Wave plant
In another initiative promoting innovative technology, npower renewables submitted a planning application in April for the 4-MW Siadar Wave Energy Project (SWEP) on Lewis Island in the Hebrides Islands of Scotland.
SWEP is a collaboration between npower and wave power developer Wavegen. (HNN 8/8/06) Npower said it would be the first project to operate under the Scottish government's Marine Supply Obligation, established to promote the development of marine energy projects. (HNN 2/22/07)
The project, in Siadar Bay, would use technology based on Wavegen's 500-kW Limpet (Land Installed Marine Powered Energy Transformer) plant on the island of Islay. Operating since 2000, Limpet uses oscillating water column technology and is the only grid-connected OWC plant operating under commercial conditions.
If the Scottish government approves the plans, construction could begin as early as 2009. SWEP is to be installed in a new breakwater, which would house the Wavegen turbines and provide a shelter and harbor facility for small craft.
