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Hydro Power at the Taplow Mill site

I would like to see a small hydro power station included in the Mill Lane redevelopment plans. Most people would probably never notice it (unless the architects make a feature of it) but it could contribute a useful proportion of the site's electricity demand.

A quick calculation suggests that about 60kW could be generated:

Drop across Boulters Weir: 2.39m
Typical summer flow in Thames at Reading: 1000Ml/day

If the scheme were allowed to use 30% of the summer flow it would get 109*0.3/(24*60*60) = 3500 l/s. As 1l of water weighs 1kg it gives a force of about 10N, so we have 3500*10*2.39 Nm/s which is 83kW. Obviously there would be losses so the electrical output would be less: maybe 60kW. Schemes already proposed for Marlow and Windsor have nominal capacities of 177kW and 200kW respectively, so there may be potential to increase the size of the Taplow scheme to a similar level.

There are already generators of this sort operating on the Thames. For a nearby example, visit The Mill at Sonning where much of the power for the theatre comes from the river.

A very comprehensive report on hydro power in south-east England was compiled in 2004 by TV Energy, and is well worth reading.

-- AndrewFindlay - 01 Oct 2008

13 Nov 2008 22:23:57 MarniAppleton:

I agree and I wish to show my support for the development of this plan

18 Jan 2009 17:14:02 EvaLipman:


18 Jan 2009 17:15:57 EvaLipman:

I too think it is an excellent idea. I think we should suggest it to the developers and to SBDC. After all the power of the Thames has been used on this site for a very long time. Eva Lipman


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