Hydropol Woolston Weir

Due to be completed in April 2021, this project is the installation of three Archimedean screw turbines (approximately 4.6m diameter and 5.5mlong), generating around 2.6GWh of renewable energy a year (or 486kw total from the turbines at full flow) from a maximum of a 2.2 meter head of water. This is being undertaken by the Czechoslovakian company Hydropol.The objective is to supply enough electricity to the national grid, to power approximately 380 to 600 typical UK homes and aims to save in the region of 750 to 1400 tonnes of CO2 per year.Another aspect of the project is to improve the fish passage at the same site. The current ladder, a pool and traverse pass will become a Larinier super-active baffles pass, designed for rapid upstream migration of Atlantic salmon, as well as many other fish species. The Archimedean screw turbines themselves will be fish friendly.Disclaimer: Information for this review was gathered from the Hydrol website and Warrington planning documents, freely available online.