Thames River May Power Goring Residences

The Goring and Streatley Sustainability Group (GSSG) announced that it is growing closer to being able to draw power from the Goring Weir to generate electricity and money for the Goring and Streatley community.
The GSSG is a non-for-profit organisation, and hopes to reach legal status as a charity this spring.  It began just over a year ago, and has extended its influence to the Environment Agency, which has come on board the project.
The scheme has as its goal the installation of a maximum of three 3.6 metre wide Archimedes’ Spirals which would rotate in the flow and drive a turbine.  The electricity generated by the turbines would then be partly fed into the National Grid and partly sold privately and be used to power hundreds of local houses.
There are only four other hydropower projects existing in the UK which are of similar size and scope.  The project at Goring would become the most powerful at a predicted ability of 200 kilowatts.
Dave Holt, a Goring parish councillor and founder member of the GSSG, said the scheme is generating a lot of interest.  He said: “We began a feasibility study in the middle of 2006 which said the scheme is viable.  That was encouraging enough for us to now undertake a final design study.”  He explained that the group was in discussion with the Environment Agency and they were very receptive.  Holt added that they the group now had an idea of possible locations and power outputs.

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