The Story of Newmills Hydro 1
The Story of Newmills Hydro 1
Newmills Hydro was established in the early 1970's, specialising initially in the refurbishment and upgrading of water turbines.
Here, Ireland's only indigenous turbine manufacture over the past 30 years
became one of the leading international companies in the design and manufacture
of water turbines and associated equipment, and Newmills Hydro is now home to
.
is licensed
to manufacture water turbines up to a capacity of 25 MW, in Pelton, Kaplan,
Francis, Axial Flow and propellor types.
At Newmills Hydro near Larne, County Antrim, where the Company has its head office and manufacturing facility, waterpower has been used since 1798 as an energy source.
During their industrial heyday, the northern counties of Ireland had little or no indigenous fuel resources apart from peat. As a result, waterpower became an important source of energy. At one time over 1,200 mill sites were operating in the province of Ulster.
The development of the textile industry established a long tradition in engineering and design skills. These have developed over many generations in textiles and shipbuilding, and more recently in aerospace and electrical engineering.
As a result,
now has a ready supply of skilled labour, able to adapt its knowledge and practical
ability, and focus its expertise on the development of water turbines and ancillary
hydropower equipment..
From this original market base, the Company is succeeding in securing an ever growing share of the hydro electricity water turbine development business in Britain, Ireland, and world wide.