Rate my idea.
In Britain if you've got a Hydro-electric scheme of 2MW, you can sell the electricity at about 10pence per Kwh including subsidies. So that's something in the ballpark of £1million per year. So what's the expenditures here to set this up, quite large sure, but not ridiculous; hundreds of thousands probably.
Buy some cheap otherwise marginal useless land on a hillside somewhere, as long as it's got a reasonable stream ( by pure speculation only a few cubic metres of water/ second ).
Gain planning permission ( surely not that hard, I mean hydro's not so intrusive as wind turbines ) for your operation. Some minor earthworks, bit of concrete here, bit of concrete there, some PVC pipes here, some PVC pipes there. Most of the expenditure would be on getting a turbine, which may be stupidly expensive, and on power transmission equipment. And no doubt on liaising with the national grid to feed it. But after it's set up this is just gonna run it's self more or less.
I mean it's nothing incredible that you couldn't do with a digger, some concrete and an electrical engineer.
So rate and subscribe.
I thought britbongs were real big on keeping the "beauty" of their countryside?
it sounds doable but it also sounds like you think it will be a piece of cake. You will have to hire engineers, go through paperwork, deal with environmentalist shit. Definitely not easy.
>>1222472
Yeah well I'm keen on protecting the beauty of my countryside, so I don't like 200m tall turbines on every hill. But if they get planning permission, then a little bit of concrete in a ditch should be much easier plus it's SUPER DUPER GREEN ECO FRIENDLY POLAR BEAR LOVING ENERGY. But yeah I know what you're saying, I'm just talking shit p much, why would you have to hire engineers though? Other than electrical engineers, a bit of concrete to keep the water back, some tubes to put it in the turbines, bish bash bosh, jobs good.
Environmentalism and whatnot would be real though.
>>1222459
Permits to placate the enviro loons, 20 million pounds.
>>1222479
;_; even if you own the land?
>>1222477
I dont know too much on the subject honestly but I assume that you will need a licensed engineer to design everything just like you would need and architect to build a building. A lot of red tape with all this shit. Though I think you may be onto something with the green energy shit. Keep researching. Maybe find other methods that dont cost so much?
>>1222503
Yeah, was just looking at the licensing shit, looks stupidly complicated. But anyway I don't have money to buy any land for a start. But if I did, you could get some useless and cheap acres up a hill i'm sure for a few thousand. Maybe I'll make that a prerogative when I get some pennies.
>>1222482
>;_; even if you own the land?
You're in the UK. You think you can just do what you want with land you own?
US, UK, Canada, France, etc.... these aren't free countries anymore. If they ever were...
>>1222567
Well yeah, but you know other people can get planning permission and enviromental permission, so why couldn't I? Maybe this is the thing that turns people off doing this, maybe this is where I can make my megabucks.
>>1223349
Scotland, I've been researching this and it seems I'm not the only one that had this idea, and there are various private consultancies and businesses that are operating exactly what I'm describing in the OP in the 2MW range right across the Highlands of Scotland. Just checking it out there are A LOT of new developments of exactly this size, and a lot of new planning applications so clearly I'm not the only one that realized how lucrative this is.
http://www.gilkesenergy.com/Projects
Whether they're owning the dam, or developing the dam for someone else. And they seem to be receiving planning, probably the reason these consultancies exist is because they have the expertise in navigating the planning and environmental aspects of building a dam. So clearly it's possible but a lot of paperwork, and hoops to jump through.
Land isn't cheap you're right, but in the highlands of Scotland there is a shit ton of marginal, un forested, un farmed land which is used for grouse shooting at best, or nothing at all, it's wet, it's rainy, it's hilly, and good for nothing so goes for comparatively cheap.
>>1222477
Hydro destroys river ecosystems by interrupting fish spawning
It's not green or eco friendly
Ironically nuclear is more eco-friendly but retards don't realize that
>>1223376
Fish ladders?
>>1223378
extra expense and aren't very effective at all
good idea to placate the ecotards tho
>>1222459
this is not uncommon. i remembered seeing stories about this in wales. i googled and found an older one, i remember seeing one from last year too.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8387449.stm
there are many(as has been linked already) projects like this in scotland. it doesn't need a river, it just needs a constant stream. one could power their house easy enough if they had a stream, but having a commercial venture requires much more water flow. it's a good idea for out of the way valleys, but there will always be objections, even if the valley only sees 2 people a year.
>>1223376
this argument has some validity, but not every river has fish, and not every hydro project needs a river. often a stream or a lake and a stream will do.
>>1223389
true but will a small dam provide enough revenue to pay off the infrastructure costs? I assume huge dams like the hoover dam have an advantage of economies of scale
>>1223368
Britbong here. Had very similar idea in the past. I'm somewhat interested in going in with you here (not that anything will come off it).
>>1223397
Well clearly these dams are paying off their infrastructure costs otherwise they wouldn't be springing up like daisies right now. I don't know what the overall construction costs are for some of those gilkes dams; I presume they're quite high because they are hiring in large plant machinery, and they'll be subcontracting everything down through so many firms, and everybody's taking their own cut. And I imagine there's a lot of cost associated with the turbine and power rectification equipment, but in terms of actual materials, it can't be stupidly high.
>>1223389
I mean fuck, if we just take this guys example: That guy is making a 40% ROI, his shit is completely stable, predictable and low maintenance. So if he's making a 40% ROI on a 11kw shit, then imagine what would be possible from a scheme with 200* the power output!?
It seems feed in tariff amounts are being decreased every year so I expect this to become less and less profitable as the government subsidise it less.
>>1223416
Yeah mate, I'm just a student with no money so it's not like I'm going to do this [s]any time soon[/s] ever, just thinking out loud tbqh.
>>1223416
>>1223423
Also Britbong, but I have money to invest and have been looking into similar things. Nothing probably will come of it, but hit me up on [email protected] if you want to talk more.
>>1222459
i dont know but i think it would be a better idea to make it with wavestar technology so you dont need a big building and its a lot easier to get the permits because you can just leave it at open sea, only downside is you will have to buy some long ass cables
>>1224806
Wave technology is a bit new isn't it?
The construction costs of a HE plant are highly dependent on the projected power output as well as the complexity of construction, but for a general idea, it is around several thousand pounds/euros per kilowatt of installed power. Construction time (not taking into account obtaining various concessions, approvals etc.) is about 3-5 years. Lifespan of a HE is generally very long (100 years), but you would also have to take into account the maintenance of turbines, generators and other technical equipment, which will need to be replaced after some time as well.
Getting enough starting capital would be the biggest problem, especially if you don't already own the land.
Couldnt you just do this with the tap in your sink?
If you happen to live in a flat where the water is included in the rent, just build a little dynamo and fix it to the tap, then leave the tap running all day and night. Hey presto! Free dollar.
This is already happening where I live in the Midlands
>>1223420
>a lot of cost associated with the turbine and power rectification equipment
Yeah this can be huge in the wind turbine biz and often the first parts to fail. Also with untried industries the manufacturers of the specialized gears go out of biz leaving you with redundant proprietary carcasses.
With wind you build it as high as possible. The variable loads are what screws up the gear, you get a cleaner source the higher up you build. Also some maintenance.
>>1225376
Are you in the wind turbine business? How does it work with grid connections and whatnot?
>>1222459
My grandparents used to run a small hydroelectric operation up in yorkshire.
First, you need a mill. That is, you need a river that's been landscaped for a long drop of water, and a large area downriver just under the turbines. Good luck finding this anywhere outside of a national park; they got away with it because the national park was put around them.
Then you need the turbines, which are fucking expensive due to precision engineering.
THEN you need a hookup to the grid, which is also fucking expensive. By the time you've spent all this money, you're then reliant on the water flowing. Which it doesn't all the time. It dries in summer and freezes in winter.
Hydro is the most viable of any green energy, though. Maybe you should look around Wales; lots of rain, lots of hills.
>>1222482
Especially if you own the land. Remember, the green party used to be the communist party until they rebranded. Econuts are the same as the SJWs and the nutcase left wing 'redistribution of wealth' nutcases.
>>1223368
> Scotland
About time someone made use of all that rain.
>>1223376
No it fucking doesn't. Fish fall right through hydroelectric turbines, and you can put in a fish ladder for them to get back up.
They only disrupt it when someone puts a fish trap in and takes too many fish out, or the anglers stick invasive species in the millpond.
>>1225471
Interesting post, thanks. What do you know about the grid hookup stuff?
>>1224926
well yes but it should work also you can add solar panels on it and wind turbines so its multi purpose
>>1222459
breddy gud
8/8
