Upland Sites (Hillstreams)
SUMMARY
This page covers the product group consisting of vertical shaft square cased impulse turbines. The full range of heads (15 metres to 300 metres) and power outputs (1kW to over 1MW) are covered by ‘belt drive’ units. The use of direct drive or overhung designs will depend on the exact site conditions to obtain a synchronous speed. Each turbine can be built with different numbers of jets and a variety of runner sizes and types. The jets may be plain or controlled with a spear valve, and deflectors may be added to provide automatic shutdown.
In this ‘Product Gallery’ I am showing a selection of turbines that we have designed and built over the last 35 years. Most of the designs have been improved and up-rated and include enhanced features such as cast stainless steel runners, brushless alternators and our electronic control and governing systems. All have a 10 year guarantee and many have been operating continuously for over 30 years.
The prices given are for guidance only, because for any one turbine size there may be a range of alternators and control systems to match the required electrical output. This is why I give a BBS (basic bare-shaft price). To this price is added the drive, alternator and control system, together with any of the enhanced options such as spear-valves, actuators and deflectors. A basic system can be fully functional and as efficient as a more sophisticated unit, it is simply less convenient. Being modular, many of the enhanced options can be added at a later date if required.
VSB PE10.100.16
Illustrated is a turbine operating on 20 metres of fall that is providing up to 3 kW of single-phase electricity to a single house. The updated version of what you see has rigid pipe-work, a cast stainless steel runner and a brushless alternator as standard.
Current ‘BBS’ price for a 5kW is £1875
VSB PE20.166.18
Illustrated is a turbine operating on 30 metres of fall that is providing up to 4 kW of single-phase electricity to The Centre for Alternative Technology in Wales. The updated version of what you see has rigid pipe-work, a cast stainless steel runner and a brushless alternator as standard.
Current price for a 10kW (BBS) turbine is £3375
VSB PE30.240.18
Illustrated is a turbine operating on 30 metres of fall that is providing up to 12 kW of single-phase electricity to village in Peru. The updated version of what you see has a cast stainless steel runner and a brushless alternator as standard.
Current price for a 20kW (BBS) turbine is £7500
VSB PE40.350.18
Illustrated is a turbine operating on 30 metres of fall that is providing up to 20 kW of single-phase electricity to school in Zambia. The updated version of what you see has a cast stainless steel runner and a brushless alternator as standard.
Current price for a 30kW (BBS) turbine is £9500
VSB PE50.400.18
Illustrated is a turbine operating on 30 metres of fall that is providing up to 12 kW of electricity at 500 volts single-phase for a farm in North Wales. The updated version of what you see has a cast stainless steel runner and a brushless alternator as standard.
Current price for a 30kW (BBS) turbine is £12500
VSB PE75.600.18
Illustrated is a turbine operating on 40 metres of fall that is providing up to 55 kW of three-phase electricity at 415 volts for a tea factory in Sri Lanka. The updated version of what you see has a cast stainless steel runner and a brushless alternator as standard.
Current price for a 75kW (BBS) turbine is £22000
VSB PE100.800.18
Illustrated is a turbine operating on 70 metres of fall that is providing up to 200 kW of three-phase electricity at 415 volts to the UK Grid in Cornwall.
Current price for a 400kW (BBS) turbine is £80000
VS0 PE6.300.35
Illustrated is a turbine operating on 250 metres of fall on a water supply main, and provides up to 2 kW of single-phase electricity to a mission in Kenya. The turbine has an automatic deflector shutdown.
Current price for a 4kW (BBS) turbine is £1500
VSO PE10.300.35
Illustrated on the right of the photograph is a turbine operating on 200 metres of fall on a water supply main, and provides up to 6 kW of single-phase electricity to a farm in Scotland.
Current price for a 10kW (BBS) turbine is £3500
VS0 PE30.300.35
Illustrated is a turbine operating on 100 metres of fall, and provides up to 25 kW of single-phase electricity to a remote shooting lodge in Scotland.
Current price for a 25kW (BBS) turbine is £8000
The gallery contains mainly Pelton turbines but other runners can be supplied when the site condition demand.