Company Announcement - A project delivered by Southeast Power Engineering of the UK has seen a mini power station installed on the River Thames at Romney Weir to generate electricity sustainably using environment friendly water driven Archimedes screw generators. The completed design features two WEG W22 Premium Efficiency IE3 generators being driven by the screws via a gearbox to produce electricity, which now powers Windsor Castle. The WEG W22 units are ‘special’ products for this application in the sense that they are generators based on a WEG W22 motor. When the screws need to be restarted, electricity is used, and then as the speed increases, so the motor function changes over to that of a generator. The rotation of the screw is maintained by the water which, in turn, maintains the generator speed in order to produce the electricity.

The scheme is the brainchild of David Dechambeau, Managing Director of Southeast Power Engineering, who has overseen every step of the design and installation process. “In order to make this project sustainable, it was essential that we select the most efficient equipment for the construction of this power station. The design called for a reliable generator with superior efficiency ratings and on balance the WEG component definitely fitted the criteria and it was straightforward to install.” The power station has been generating electricity since July 2013 and is in the final stages of completing its testing and commissioning. It comprises two Archimedes screws manufactured by Landustrie, each weighing 40 tonnes, connected to the WEG W22 IE3 class Premium Efficiency generators, which are now delivering 320 kW/h at peak flow, exceeding the original design criteria.

The WEG W22 IE3 generators were designed and manufactured in Portugal at WEG’s dedicated European manufacturing site. They are rated at 185 kW and produce electricity at 400 V, which is then fed via a 500 kVA transformer to an underground line that connects to Windsor Castle and to the national grid. Efficiency was a key target for this application, as the installation has a fixed return on investment period. At 96% efficiency, the WEG motor/generators represented one of the best investments Southeast Power could make in the power transmission design to ensure their six-year ROI target was met. The installation has a minimum guaranteed design life of 50 years while Southeast Power has a 40 year tenancy of the site, which means that reliability and longevity were also very important considerations. If the screws stop turning, it means a direct consequence in terms of revenue.

“This was a very important project for us, not only because we are supplying the Royal Household, but also as an initial stepping stone for a number of similar projects. It is essential that we install the most efficient and ecologically sound power plant as possible. The work we are completing now will help to deliver future projects using similar technology as demand for sustainable power is going to increase,” Dechambeau concludes. WEG is represented in Africa by the Zest WEG Group, a leading supplier of electric motors, vibrator motors, variable speeds drives, softstarters, transformers MCC’s, containerised substations, diesel generator sets, switchgear and co-generation and energy solutions as well as electrical/instrumentation engineering and project management services.

The Zest WEG Group operates a strategically positioned network of support operations across Africa, which includes eight branches in South Africa and operations in Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia and Ghana, with distributors in Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Kenya, the DRC, Nigeria, Cameroon, Angola and Mauritania.

WEG GENERATES HYDRO ELECTRICITY AT WINDSOR CASTLE PIC 01: A mini power station installed on the River Thames at Romney Weir produces ‘green’ electricity by means of water-driven Archimedes screw generators based on two WEG W22 Premium Efficiency IE3 generators.

WEG GENERATES HYDRO ELECTRICITY AT WINDSOR CASTLE PIC 02: The W22 units are ‘special’ products for this application in the sense that they are generators based on a W22 motor. At 96% efficiency, they were a critical part of the power transmission design to ensure the six-year return on investment target was met.