The scheme, which involves the installation of an Archimedian screw turbine on the weir at Scott's Park, would generate up to 14kW of electricity a day, which would then be sold. It is estimated this would produce a surplus of around £10,000 a year, less annual maintenance costs, leaving £6000 for community projects in the Glendale area.

While the surplus is some £4000 less than the Glendale Gateway Trust had anticipated, it is still extremely keen to see the project progress.
Neil Wilson, from the trust, said: "We wanted to look at an opportunity for income generation, not just for the trust but for some kind of community grants programme.

"The study shows that the potential is there and, although it is not as much as we would have liked, the £6000 surplus is still a start.

"As a result we are still very keen to progress what is a low impact way of producing electricity through renewable resources."

The project would see water run from above the weir, down the screw, turning it, returning the water to the river just below the weir.

The turning motion of the Archimedean screw would generate electricity, which could then be sold through the National Grid or to an end user.

Wooler Parish Council is the landowner so the trust hopes to secure its permission to proceed and then work in partnership with social enterprise organisation Water Power Enterprises (h2ope) to deliver the scheme.

H2ope would look for the estimated £170,000 construction, equipment and installations costs through a mixture of grant funding, a possible community shares issue and equitable investment.

Mr Wilson explained: "The model we have looked at so far would see h2ope develop the project in partnership with the trust and parish council who would set up an industrial and provident society.

"H2ope would work entirely at their own risk to find the funds to develop the project further so the costs to the trust and parish council at this stage are low.

"Income from the electricity goes into a community fund which would be managed by the trust or an industrial and provident society.

"The initial idea would be to have a grants fund available throughout Glendale itself and that money would be up for grabs, depending on what the priorities are."

H2ope has already set up two similar schemes at New Mills in Derbyshire and Settle in Yorkshire and there are several others in the pipeline.
"They are bigger than this one would be but they still see Wooler as an opportunity," said Mr Wilson.

The proposed layout locates the turbine alongside the existing fish pass. It is assumed this would be more favourable to the Environment Agency because fish would be attracted to the flow of water from the turbine and be guided towards the fishpass.

Locating the turbine on the west bank also has the advantage of better vehicle access for construction, operation and maintenance.

Western Renewable Energy, who carried out the feasibility study for h2ope, report that it may be necessary to divert the existing surface water sewer; if this is not possible the turbine could be located on the opposite bank.

The only infrastructure required for the project would be a small stone building next to the weir and a means of connecting to the National Grid. The screw could have a lifespan of around 40 to 50 years or more.

The idea came about after Mr Wilson, keen to find out more about hydro-electric power, attended a free workshop in Manchester run by h2ope.

"They offered to carry out a feasibility study on the Wooler Water for £750 and, if feasible, work to pursue the project," he said. "So I came back and spoke to Northumberland National Park Authority and it agreed to pay for it from its northern area fund."

H2ope plan to do a workshop for trust officers, trustees and members of the parish council towards the end of this month.

Mr Wilson said: "It will give us a broad overview of the whole project so everyone can get a flavour of what kind of enterprise we are talking about."

Find out more about community hydro power schemes by visiting www.h2ope.org.uk.