How Can WRE Ltd Help You?
Western Renewable Energy offers a range of different services to support potential developers and hydro owners alike.
We carry out consultancy, project design and installation:
- Initial pre-feasibility and full feasibility studies
- Hydrological modelling, surveys, flood risk assessments, data logging
- Pre-abstraction Licence and formal Abstraction licence applications and advice
- Planning permissions
- Professional services – design reviews, tender development, site supervision
- Hydro system design, including detailed civil design, M & E system design
- Turbine system design
- Project installation and management
- Equipment manufacture from sluices to screeners and flow measurement devices
We also provide operation and maintenance services:
- Day-to-day maintenance
- Plant upgrades
- Breakdown maintenance
Key Experience and Skills
A successful hydro scheme is the result of much planning and careful construction. Even small hydro schemes combine potentially complex electrical, mechanical, civil and hydraulic engineering problems. These often have to be considered alongside historic aspects, flood resilience, fisheries issues, wider ecological impacts, as well as regulatory aspects – abstraction licensing, planning permission, flood defence consent and potentially others also. WRE Ltd has a wealth of knowledge of designing and building modern hydro systems, and employs a small team of highly qualified engineers, administrators and site staff. WRE Ltd has equipment and software to provide the best available design service to customers, including industry standard flow prediction software, flood estimation models, and in-house turbine analysis tools.
In addition WRE Ltd has sets of specialist equipment for water level and flow monitoring, noise monitoring and temperature and vibration monitoring. This allows greater precision in design and specifications and aids early fault finding during routine maintenance checks.
Together with our track record of design and installation this gives WRE an excellent package for the client.
WRE has the experience of hundreds of sites, with many complete design and constructions finished, across the main technologies – Pelton, crossflow, Francis, screw, propeller and waterwheels. See our case studies for recent installations. WRE is not an agent for any manufacturer, but instead uses a range of suppliers to maintain our independence, and to ensure our system designs use the best available equipment.
WRE works with selected subcontractors to regularly carry out specialist work such as fish rescue and general fisheries assessments, ecological assessments, topographic surveys, ground investigation and structural assessments of weirs and hydraulic infrastructure.
Our site staff are trained and experienced. We also regularly use a range of hired in plant including cranes to 200t capacity, large concrete pumps and large tracked plant of all sizes.
WRE is a member of both local and national trade bodies, additionally WRE Ltd is a member of the REAL assurance code, and is MCS transition accredited.
WRE has a profile within the industry, with employees who have positions on the MCS industry panel, as well as the BHA council. Through these positions WRE is able to help promote micro-hydro developments in the UK.
During 2011 WRE designed and installed 5 hydro schemes and are expecting to exceed this in 2012 with over 10 sites expected to be comissioned by te end of the year. At the end of 2011 a total capacity of over 400kW had been commissioned by WRE, this total is expected to more than double over the coming 12 months. Further capacity of sites designed by WRE but installed by others pushes this up considerably further. These sites are typically in the range 5 to 100 kW.
