Halton Lune Hydro The biggest community hydro in England
John and Alan visited the Czech Republic recently to look at the turbines manufactured by Hydrohrom. Unfortunately Gilkes of Kendal no longer manufacture turbines for low head hydro schemes so we were forced to look abroad. Hydrohrom has an impressive track record of low head hydro throughout Europe, and after all the Kaplin turbine was invented at the Czech Technical University in Brno. They came in with a much lower price than anyone else – mostly due to the lower, country specific, manufacturing costs and the fact that virtually all the components are made in-house rather than bought in. John and Alan came back very impressed with the company, the quality of their factory, personnel and products, and we have now placed an order for our turbine, which has a ten month delivery schedule.
The company have currently got seven turbines in production, so we have seen turbines and installations very similar to ours. Our installation will have provision for two turbines in quite a large “basement” below a small stone cottage that houses electrical equipment above ground
We have also confirmed a price for the second turbine that we plan to install 12 months after the first becomes operational. It will cost £295,000 including extra electrical, project management, and 10% reserve, which is significantly less than we anticipated.
