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Electricity from new sources
Energy production has become an environmentally friendly sideline for the Wuppertal Valley's water suppliers.
Germany's Wuppertal is demonstrating how unconventional approaches can create amazing new opportunities. They have started extracting ecological electricity from energy sources that were ignored in the past. A feasibility study commissioned by the Wuppertal Stadtwerke as part of a contracting project in 2003 found that it would be worthwhile to make use of two nearby dams, which were utilised for the city's water supply, to produce electricity as well. The report said that the incline and volume of water would suffice to produce "green" electricity. The hydro-electric power plant in the bottom outlet of the Kerspe Dam started producing environmentally-friendly electricity for the Wuppertal Stadtwerke in April 2004. A small power plant in the water pipes at the waterworks in Herbringhausen will start producing power later this year and another hydro-electric plant will be installed in the bottom outlet at the Obere Herbringhauder Dam in 2006. The city hopes to produce a total of 1.3 million kWh per year.
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