Beeston Weir generating plant - geograph

Beeston Hydro is a small hydroelectric scheme, in

Beeston, Nottinghamshire Beeston is a town in the Borough of Broxtowe, Nottinghamshire, England, south-west of Nottingham city centre. To its north-east is the University of Nottingham's main campus, University Park. The pharmaceutical and retail chemist group Boots h ...

. It is located on the

River Trent The Trent is the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, third-longest river in the United Kingdom. Its Source (river or stream), source is in Staffordshire, on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through and drains the North Midland ...

, and generates up to 1.66 MW of electricity.

History

During 1999, Hyder Industrial Ltd. built the UK's largest "run-of river"

hydro-electric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...

plant at Beeston Rylands Weir. The plant was commissioned on 4 January 2000 and later sold on to

United Utilities United Utilities Group plc (UU), the United Kingdom's largest listed water company, was founded in 1995 as a result of the merger of North West Water and NORWEB. The group manages the regulated water and waste water network in North West Englan ...

in 2001.

Description

The plant has a design life of twenty years. At the maximum consented flow rate, 60 m³/s of water passes through the pair of turbines. Upstream of the weir and during the salmon migratory period, the plant utilises a bio-acoustic fish-fence—a

bubble curtain A bubble curtain is a system that produces bubbles in a deliberate arrangement in water. It is also called pneumatic barrier. The technique is based on bubbles of air (gas) being let out under the water surface, commonly on the bottom. When the b ...

in which the bubbles contain a sound that the fish do not like. This fish fence steers migrating fish away from the fast-flowing turbine intakes and into the

fish ladder A fish ladder, also known as a fishway, fish pass, fish steps, or fish cannon is a structure on or around artificial and natural barriers (such as dams, locks and waterfalls) to facilitate diadromous fishes' natural migration as well as movemen ...

, by which the fish can safely negotiate the weir. The power generated supplies enough electricity (1.5 MW–1.66 MW) for two thousand homes, a total of 5.26 GWh annually, it is currently run by

Infinis Infinis Energy is a British renewable energy group headquartered in Northampton. Infinis produces electricity from captured landfill and mineral methane. Infinis claims to have a net negative carbon emissions footprint. History The company was o ...

References

{{authority control Hydroelectric power stations in England Buildings and structures in Nottinghamshire Power stations in the East Midlands River Trent Beeston, Nottinghamshire