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Tube ProducTS InTernaTIonal September 2013
Piping power to Snowdonia
GPS PE Pipe Systems is helping
the National Trust conservation
organisation to deliver its strategy for
renewable energy with the supply of PE
penstock pipe for the charity’s Hafod
y Llan hydroelectric power scheme in
Snowdonia, Wales.
The 640kW scheme on the slopes
of Snowdon is part of the Trust’s ‘Fit
for the Future’ initiative to further the
organisation’s conservation remit by
investing in renewables and moving
towards energy self-sufficiency in Wales.
Once the scheme goes live in November,
it will generate sufficient electricity to
power all National Trust major sites and
properties in Wales, and the income
generated by the energy it supplies to the
grid will be used to enable conservation
projects within Snowdonia.
Designed by Hydropower Services, the
Hafod y Llan scheme will use water
from the Afon Cwm Llan at the head of
the valley, which will be fed through a
1km PE penstock to arrive at the turbine
at the foot of the valley before being
returned to the river downstream.
John Millen, senior project manager for
the National Trust, explained, “Many of
our properties are in remote locations
and rely on oil power supplies, so this
project will be a major step forward in
our environmental performance and fuel
self-sufficiency.
“In delivering those environmental
aims, however, it’s essential that we
preserve the landscape and ecology
here in Snowdonia, and the installation
of the penstock will involve burying the
pipeline in the hillside so that there is
minimal visual impact once the scheme
is completed.
“The flexibility of PE will enable us to
achieve that goal, and the fact that GPS
has worked with us to value engineer the
specification matching pipe pressure
ratings to the head at every point along
the route has also helped us minimise
costs.”
The penstock installation began at
the end of April. The project team
will build a weir among abandoned
copper mines to divert a part of the
mountain river overflow to the penstock,
which will take it to the turbine on
the Trust’s Hafod y Llan farm in the
valley.
GPS Pe Pipe Systems
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To minimise visual impact, the pipeline will be buried in the hillside
