What a change since my last blog! As most people will be all too well aware, after a wet winter, with lots of generation, we are now experiencing what may well turn out to be the driest spring for many years, and as a result we haven’t generated anything at all for weeks. At least anyone with solar panels should be doing well.
UK weather is so variable anyway that we budget for long dry periods, so it’s not a financial disaster if we don’t run for a while. We also recently paid off the last instalment of our loan from the National Park – we are very pleased to have reached this landmark – so we are in a strong position with our finances., even if we have a poor year for generation. We do like to keep funds in reserve in case of a major breakdown needing costly repairs – particularly as we have struggled recently to get breakdown insurance cover. It’s a good time to have finished paying back the Park.
I mentioned the dam in the last blog. The dam at Ruswarp was of course built to provide a head of water to drive the mill on the other side of the river; now the mill is no longer operating and has been converted into housing, the same head of water is what drives the turbine. A mill has been in place for many years, and as a result so has the dam which is starting to show its age. It’s an interesting construction: the upstream face is made of vertical timbers (we think aspen is the wood) with a stone cap; behind this is rubble infill covered by a sloping stone facing leading down to the lower river. In places the stone facing has become dislodged, or the rubble infill has shifted, resulting in holes in the downstream dam face; there’s also one area where the stone cap looks unstable. One advantage of the dry weather is that it’s now relatively safe to walk along the dam for a more detailed inspection, and we will be doing this. Watch this space as to what repairs might be needed.
Meanwhile enjoy the sunshine while it lasts!
Rory Newman, Chair of Esk Energy
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