Algars Mill

This former watermill was originally attached to the neighbouring manor house and originally adapted for electricity production to supply the house in 1924. The DC alternator had long since disappeared, well before the current owners who have lived there for the last 27 years. A resource assessment and appraisal of the remaining open flume turbine was carried out by Pico Energy and a new scheme installed.

The most cost-effective hydropower option identified was to refurbish the existing turbine and install a new induction generator and control system. An actuation mechanism was also designed to allow the system to start and stop automatically and respond to varying flow rates. Refurbishment required complete removal of the turbine, replacement of the guide vane linkages, drive shaft and bearings, blasting and repainting. A G83 grid connection system was installed so that the modest amounts of power generated could be directly used by the household loads. The scheme is registered under the RO and will transfer to the Feed-in Tariff as it was commissioned between July 2009 and March 2010. Unfortunately, the new FiT program excludes refurbished turbines so future schemes of this nature are unlikely to proceed unless there is a policy change.